NWF Men’s Hoops Preview Part 2: Coaches
NICEVILLE, Fla. – With the start of men's basketball season just around the corner, NWFRaiders.com will take a look at the program in a four-part preview series.
Northwest Florida State opens its 2019-20 campaign at home on Nov. 1 against State College of Jacksonville. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.
The second part of the series is a look at the Raiders' coaching staff as head coach Butch Pierre enters his first season at the helm.
HEAD COACH BUTCH PIERRE
Pierre began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State in 1986. In his 30-plus years as a coach, Pierre has established himself as one of the premier recruiters in the country with his classes yielding nine conference championships, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, and one Final Four appearance.
Prior to joining the Raiders, Pierre served as Director of Player Development at Memphis. He has served as an assistant at Kentucky State, Southwestern Louisiana, Charlotte, LSU, Oklahoma State, and NC State.
A native of Darrow, Louisiana, Pierre was a guard at Mississippi State from 1980-84 finishing as the team's third leading scorer his last three seasons. Pierre is also ninth all-time at the school with 3.3 assists per game over his career.
ASSISTANT COACH NATE LAING
Laing began his college playing career at Jacksonville State before spending his final two seasons at Central Florida.
In 2016-17, UCF went 24-12 and advanced to the NIT Semifinals. Laing appeared in 54 games for the Knights and helped lead the team to a win over Memphis in The American Quarterfinals. That year, the Knights led the nation on field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 36.5 percent from the floor.
Prior to joining NWF, Laing served as an assistant coach at Kentucky Wesleyan. Laing earned a Bachelor of Science in business management and a Master's in career and technical education.
The son of UCF men's assistant coach Robbie Laing, Nate was a prep star at Harnett Central High School in Lillington, N.C.
ASSISTANT COACH JOE SIMMONS
Simmons spent four seasons at Shaw University before making his way to Niceville. A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Simmons spent five seasons on the travel basketball circuit as the head coach of the Jacksonville Nets.
Simmons has coached over 30 student-athletes who have gone on to sign Division I or Division II scholarships. When he was elevated to coordinate the Bears offensive efforts in 2017, Shaw finished in the top 75 nationally in points per game, field goal percentage, free throws made and free throws attempted.
A four-year member of the basketball program at Jean Ribault Senior High School in Jacksonville, Simmons played point guard under legendary head coach Bernard Wilkes, the all-time winningest coach in Florida High School history. Ribault made back-to-back state final appearances during Simmons' time.
For more information on Northwest Florida State athletics, visit NWFRaiders.com or follow the team on Twitter at @NWF_Raiders.