Lourawls Nairn Jr. - Men's Basketball Coach - Bowling Green State University Athletics

Lourawls Nairn Jr.

Title:
Associate Head Men's Basketball Coach
Email:
lnairn@bgsu.edu
Phone:
419-372-8311

Coach Nairn
College	Michigan State (2018)
Coaching History
2018-19	Phoenix Suns, Player Development Coach
2019-21	Michigan State, Graduate Assistant
2021-22	Sunrise Christian Academy, Head Coach
2022-23	Southern Utah, Assistant Coach
2023-24	Bowling Green, Assistant Coach
2024-	Bowling Green, Associate Head Coach

Nairn enters his fourth season with the Falcons in 2026-27 after joining the staff with head coach Todd Simon in 2023-24, the staff's first season at Bowling Green. Nairn was promoted to Associate Head Coach prior to the 2024-25 campaign.

The Falcons finished the 2025-26 campaign with an 18-14 record while going 9-9 within the MAC. BGSU advanced to the MAC Quarterfinals for the third-straight season. As a team, the Falcons broke a few records, beginning with 27 steals against Bethany College to break both the BGSU and MAC single-game records. The Falcons also held VMI to 20-percent from the field with only 10 made field goals, both believed to be program records. BGSU tallied 10 wins before the holiday break for the first time since 1947-48 while posting four 100-point scoring games on the season to rank second in program history.

The Falcons also started the season 3-0, the best start since 2014-15 before registering a win over Kansas State for the program’s first Power Conference win since 2005 and first double-digit conference win since 1996.

As for individual accomplishments during the 2025-26 season, Javontae Campbell led the way. Campbell set the program’s steals record for the second-straight year, this time with 97, while finishing fifth for career steals with 187. Campbell also matched the program records for steals in a game (8) and free throws attempted in a game (27). Additionally, Troy Glover II finished the season shooting 65.8-percent from the field, second in program history.

The 2024-25 campaign finished for the Falcons with a record of 14-18 while going 8-10 within the Mid-American Conference. Bowling Green made the MAC Quarterfinals as the No. 8 seed, falling to Akron in the first round. At the conclusion of the season, Javontae Campbell was named All-MAC Third Team and MAC All-Defensive Team after breaking the program record for steals in a season with 90, finishing fourth in the nation. Jamai Felt also was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team after leading the conference in blocks with 46. Additionally, Marcus Johnson broke the program record for free throw percentage in a season, shooting 89.9-percent from the line.

In his first season with the Falcons, Coach Nairn aided in orchestrating one of the quickest turnarounds in program history. In the staff's first season, the Falcons tallied 20 wins for just the 10th time in the program's MAC era, becoming one of 10 teams in the nation to go from 20 losses in 2022-23 to 20 wins in 2023-24. The season saw Bowling Green advance to the MAC Semifinals and make an appearance in the CIT. Additionally, Marcus Hill was named All-MAC First Team and Rashaun Agee earned All-MAC Second Team. Hill earned four MAC Player of the Week recognitions and Agee was awarded once.

Nairn arrived in Bowling Green after one season in Southern Utah with Coach Simon as an assistant coach. During his lone season in Cedar City, the Thunderbirds finished with a 24-13 record and 12-6 conference standing, advancing to the WAC Championship game. Before joining SUU, Nairn was the head coach at the well-renowned Sunrise Christian Academy, a postgraduate men's basketball team. In his lone season at the helm of the program, Nairn led the team to a 21-win season and an Elite Eight appearance in the National Prep Tournament.

Before taking over at Sunrise Christian Academy, Nairn spent two years as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Michigan State, under coach Tom Izzo. Over his two seasons at Michigan State as a graduate assistant the Spartans won a Big Ten regular season title and made an NCAA Tournament appearance. Nairn spent a season in the NBA as well as a player development coach with Phoenix Suns. He also served as an assistant coach for the AAU club Mokan Elite during the 2022 summer circuit, helping the team earn a 26-4 record and a Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Championship.

In college, Nairn was a standout player at Michigan State from 2014-18. Becoming one of six Spartans in program history to be a three-year captain, Nairn appeared in 137 games with 66 starts. He became the fourth Spartan freshman all-time to start at point guard in the NCAA Tournament and just the second to start in the Final Four, joining Magic Johnson. A native of Nassau, Bahamas, Nairn also played for the Bahamian National Team throughout his career, first representing his country at the age of 16. In 2018, he played for the Bahamian Senior National Basketball Team in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifying round.