FAIRBANKS, Alaska – On Wednesday, Alaska Nanooks head men's basketball coach Mick Durham announced his resignation from the program after serving at the helm for the past seven seasons. Durham has accepted the position of head coach at Montana State University at Billings, a fellow member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

In June of 2011, Durham was named the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball program's 12th head coach by former Director of Athletics Forest Karr. Durham, a native of Three Forks, Mont., credits the decision to be closer to home.

"I have accepted the head coaching position at Montana State University-Billings and it truly came down to a chance to end my coaching career at home," Durham said on Wednesday. "I really enjoyed the challenge at UAF and playing in the GNAC. The past  seven years were a wonderful experience for my family and myself. I am so appreciative of all the support we have received from UAF and the Fairbanks community as a whole."

In his seven seasons as head coach, Durham registered an overall record of 92-103 and 60-72 in conference play. Durham tallied three winning seasons, each leading to a postseason appearance at the GNAC Tournament. Individually, Durham had 13 players garner all-conference honors and seven be named to the GNAC All-Academic team.

 Durham's most notable season was the 2015-16 campaign, where the Nanooks went 22-8 overall and 15-5 in GNAC play to finish the regular season ranking second in the league. It was the highest GNAC regular season finish for Alaska since their first-place finish in 2004-05. The team also made their first-ever appearance in the GNAC Championship game that season, where they fell short to No. 1-seed Western Oregon, 78-71.

The 2015-16 Alaska Nanooks were named the HERO Sports NCAA Division II Breakout Team of the Year, while Durham produced the school's fourth-ever National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NCAA Division II All-West Regional Second Team selection in Trevante Williams, who was also an All-GNAC First Team honoree.

Throughout his time with Alaska, Durham was named the GNAC Co-Coach of the Year in 2012-13 and earned the Alaska Nanooks Department of Athletics Coach of the Year award on two occasions.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks will begin the process of naming the next head coach for the Alaska Nanooks men's' basketball team immediately.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks team page on Facebook.