William & Mary head men’s basketball coach Dane Fischer announced the promotion of Nate Bollinger to assistant coach. Bollinger spent the last two seasons as the Tribe’s director of basketball operations.
“Nate has done an incredible job in the role of director of basketball operations and is more than ready to be a Division I assistant coach,” Fischer said. “He came to William & Mary with a great combination of coaching and recruiting experience which makes this transition very seamless.”
During his first season with the Tribe in 2019-20, the Green and Gold posted its most regular season wins since 1950 with 21. W&M also set school record with 10 road wins and 13 wins in Colonial Athletic Association play, finishing second in the league regular season. Over the last two seasons, the Tribe has produced a CAA Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, three All-CAA players and four CAA All-Defensive Team selections.
Prior to his time at W&M, Bollinger spent three years at the Division I level as the Director of Player Development at High Point, helping the Panthers to 21 wins and a Big South regular season championship in 2016.
In 2018-19, Bollinger was the associate head coach at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., leading the Bearcats to a 22-5 record and a Presidents Athletic Conference regular season title. He was named to the 2019 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team.
“Nate has great recruiting ties throughout the mid-Atlantic and northeast region which are very important areas for our program, and he really understands the type of student-athletes we are looking to bring to William & Mary,” Fischer said. “As a coach, Nate has a great basketball mind and will be relied upon heavily from an X’s and O’s standpoint.”
Bollinger started his coaching career at Division III York College in Pennsylvania in 2014-15. He also worked with The Hoop Group in 2014-15 and 2018, assisting with camps, on-court coaching, and skill development.
Bollinger played collegiately at both the Division II and Division III levels at Millersville University and Delaware Valley College. He finished his collegiate career with 989 points and earned his bachelor’s degree from Millersville in psychology in 2014.
Bollinger moves into an assistant coaching role which opened after Jason Kemp accepted an assistant position with Big Ten program Minnesota following two seasons in Williamsburg.
“With the departure of Coach Kemp, Nate had the opportunity to be in a coaching role this spring and I was able to observe how well he teaches the game and communicates with our players on the floor,” Fischer said. “He will add a tremendous amount of value to our player development program and our student-athletes are thrilled about his promotion.”