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Mary Baldwin names Sacramento State alum Nate Smith new men’s basketball coach

Chris Graham
nate smith mbu basketball
Nate D. Smith. Photo: Mary Baldwin Athletics

Mary Baldwin University has a new men’s basketball coach, Nate Smith, who will take over the program after a four-year stint as an assistant at Oberlin.

Smith is a 2014 alum of Sacramento State, a D1 program where he served as video coordinator and director of basketball operations as an undergrad, before being elevated to an assistant coach role in 2017.

He served as the offensive coordinator at Oberlin under head coach Shiva Senthil.

Smith takes over for Daniel Eacho, who was 25-27 in two seasons as the head coach at MBU.

“We’re very excited about the addition of Nate Smith to the MBU staff,” said MBU Director of Athletics Tom Byrnes. “He’s demonstrated success at his previous coaching jobs over the past decade, and I believe he’ll bring the necessary attributes to the players in our program. I think he’s a winner from start to finish.”

Smith inherits a program that has advanced to the conference playoffs four straight seasons, including winning the 2024 USA South Conference regular-season and postseason championships, which earned the program a bid to the D3 NCAA Tournament.

“I would like to thank Tom Byrnes, Christy Shelton, and the rest of the search committee for this tremendous opportunity,” Smith said. “I am very excited to get to campus and start building this program, which already has such a rich history of success. I cannot wait to coach the team as we look to build an USA South championship-caliber program here in Staunton.”

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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].