Mick Durham, who is the 12th head coach in Alaska men’s basketball program history, enters his seventh season at the helm and has produced one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA Division II the last couple seasons as he led the Nanooks to three GNAC Tournament appearances, including the Conference Championship game at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season for the first time in program history.
Durham guided the Nanooks through a storybook 2015-16 campaign, as the team posted the second-most wins in program history, as well as set the school record for most Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular season wins. He also hit the 300 win mark on December, 12
th 2015.
Alaska went 22-8 and 15-5 in GNAC play to finish the regular season in second place. It was the highest GNAC regular season finish for the Nooks since their first-place finish in 2004-05. The team also made it's first-ever appearance in the GNAC championship game, where they fell short to No. 1-seed Western Oregon, 78-71.
The 22 wins marks a 15-win improvement from the 2014-15 total of seven, which was the biggest turnaround in the win column in all of NCAA Division II this past season. Alaska also had the biggest improvement in the BennettRank, which is a ranking systems used by HERO Sports. The Nanooks ended the 2015-16 season ranked 22nd in BennettRank NCAA Division II Poll, which was a 178-spot improvement over the 2014-15 final ranking. The Nanooks just missed out on the NCAA West Regional, as they finished the final poll in ninth, just one spot short of a bid.
The 2015-16 Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team was named the HERO Sports NCAA Division II Breakout Team of the Year. Durham produced the school’s fourth-ever National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NCAA Division II All-West Regional second team selection in Travante Williams, who also earned All-GNAC first team honors.
Prior to that, Durham continued the program's turnaround during the 2014-15 season, as the Nanooks collected their first top-three finish in the GNAC Academic Standings with a 3.07 team GPA. On the court, a series of unfortunate events, which included an NCAA probation, led to a 7-19 record and a 4-14 mark in GNAC play. Durham was still able to guide Alaska to a win over NCAA Division II power, Western Washington, and produced two All-GNAC honorable mention players in Ashton Edwards and Almir Hadzisehovic.
After going 5-23 overall with a 2-16 mark in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play in his inaugural year in 2011-12, Durham reloaded the roster, retaining just three players, and led the Nanooks to a 16-12 record and a fourth-place finish in the GNAC at 10-8 in 2012-13.
Alaska advanced to the GNAC Championship and with its win over MSU Billings in the quarterfinal round, it marked the first time in eight years the program had a postseason win. It fell to eventual NCAA West Region champion Western Washington in the conference semifinals.
He was named GNAC Co-Coach of the Year, along with Western’s Tony Dominguez, the athletic department's Coach of the Year and also coached three players onto the All-Conference teams as senior Dominique Brinson and junior Sergej Pucar were named to the Second Team while junior Pat Voeut was an Honorable Mention selection.
The 2012-13 season was highlighted by the Nanooks’ stunning victory on Feb. 21 when they ended Western Washington’s 30-game win streak with a thrilling 80-77 victory, which also clinched the team’s berth into the GNAC Championship.
The program continues its rise in 2013-14 as the Nanooks finished 18-10 with a 12-6 mark in GNAC games, to finish in third place while earning a spot in the GNAC semifinals for the second consecutive season, falling again to WWU. In the regular-season finale, Alaska ended its eight-year losing streak to rival Alaska Anchorage as Andrew Kelly banked a shot off the backboard at the buzzer to complete a 20-5 run to erase a 13-point deficit in the final eight minutes.
Following the regular season, Alaska had three seniors named to the All-GNAC teams, including Kelly, who was honored as GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and Second Team laurels. Ronnie Baker and Sergej Pucar also earned All-GNAC accolades.
Following year one as head coach, outgoing senior Nico Matthews was an Honorable Mention All-GNAC selection after he led the conference in both steals and assists.
Prior to his coming to Fairbanks, Durham spent the previous three seasons as the assistant men’s basketball coach at Division I’s New Mexico State in Las Cruces. In his three years, he helped the Aggies to a 55-44 record and a top-four finish each season in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
His tenure was highlighted with a WAC tournament title in 2009-10 and a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Aggies nearly pulled off a stunning first-round upset over No. 5 Michigan State after they rallied from a 16-point first half deficit but a pair of three-point attempts in the closing moments was off the mark to allow Michigan State to sneak by.
Prior to his three year at New Mexico State, Durham was the head coach at his alma mater, Montana State University, where he served for 16 seasons. He retired in 2006 as the second-winningest coach in Bobcats basketball history and was the second-longest tenured coach in school history. Durham recorded 246 wins, which ranks first in Big Sky Conference history.
He was a three-time conference coach of the year (1996, 2002 and 2005) and led the Bobcats to the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Durham guided the Bobcats to a pair of Big Sky regular season titles (1996 and 2002) and one league tournament championship (1996).
Durham was familiar with Fairbanks prior to being hired, having brought Montana State to the BP Top of the World Classic in 1999 and 2005.
He and his wife, Donna, have three children: Casey (played for his dad at Montana State), Mikaela and Kobey.
