The Duke basketball program announced yesterday that it has hired Evan Bradds as its newest assistant coach after he spent the past three seasons with the Utah Jazz as an assistant coach for player development. Bradds will be filling the vacancy left after Jai Lucas took over as the head coach at Miami late in the college basketball season.
Bradds had a storied career as a player and is a rising young coach in the game of basketball.
The Jamestown, Ohio native played college basketball at Belmont University from 2013-17, leading the nation in field goal percentage in his sophomore season at 68.8%. Bradds was a two-time Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year selection and was a third-team All-American in 2016.
After his four years of college hoops, Bradds joined the Boston Celtics organization where he was an assistant for four years. From 2017-18, he served as an assistant coach for the Maine Red Claws, the G-League affiliate of the Celtics. From there, he moved to a role as a video coordinator for the Celtics as well as an assistant on the player enhancement staff, where he remained until 2022.
Bradds was then hired by the Utah Jazz as an assistant for player development under head coach Will Hardy. He remained on the Jazz staff until he took the job in Durham.
"I am honored to be joining the Duke basketball program and want to express my immense gratitude to Coach [Jon] Scheyer for this opportunity," Bradds said.
"I am looking forward to working alongside Coach Scheyer and the Duke team to help continue the long-standing tradition that is Duke basketball."
Scheyer also spoke on the addition of Bradds to the staff, welcoming him to the Duke family.
"I'm excited to welcome Evan and his wife, MacKenzie, to Durham," Scheyer said. "Evan brings an unbelievable basketball mind, NBA player development experience, and a unique ability to build meaningful relationships with players - something that's core to our culture. His experience, vision, and forward-thinking approach will help keep Duke at the forefront of college basketball. We're excited for what's ahead."
There's a lot to be excited about surrounding Duke basketball next season, and Bradds' elite basketball mind will be a great add to the bench.