Duke national champion Nate James talks 2001 title run, Final Four matchup, first season as head coach

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EXCLUSIVE: Nate James knows the feeling of winning a college basketball national championship as a player and an assistant coach — and also losing on the biggest stage of his collegiate career.

James, who is now the head coach at Austin Peay, played for Duke from 1996 to 2001 and was on the Blue Devils when they lost to UConn in the national championship in 1999 and when they defeated Arizona in the game in 2001. He was a conditioning coach and later an assistant coach under the legendary Mike Krzyzewski from 2008 to 2021 and was there when the team won it all in 2010 and 2015.

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Casey Sanders, Nate James and Chris Duhon celebrate after defeating Arizona at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 2, 2001. (Brian Bahr/ALLSPORT)

James recalled in an interview with Fox News Digital his fondest memories of the national title run in 2001 with Shane Battier, Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Chris Duhon and Carlos Boozer, to name a few.

"It’s not just necessarily one particular moment but it’s more so just the overall bond that we had and the closeness of the group with Shane and I being the captains and just kind of figuring out how to get better and just the ups and downs you go through during the season, regardless of how good you are," he said.

"As a matter of fact, my wife and I were just talking about the loss to this year’s team, the loss to [North] Carolina for [coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game] and I said look, you know, it sucks. I hated that was the last game. I was there. And I said it's kind of like my senior year. I lost to Maryland and that was my senior night and we just