NIC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Covill's coaching journey to the Cardinals

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

Almost 11 years after bringing the Redmond (Ore.) High girls basketball team here for the then-Coeur d’Alene Inn-vitational at North Idaho College, Nathan Covill will be back on the bench again.

This time though, he’ll be leading the NIC women’s basketball program after taking over as coach in mid-July.

“This place always had a cool feel to it when I came here,” Covill said. “When this job opened, I thought about playing in this place. I’m a fan of gyms, and the opportunity to coach here is amazing.”

Covill was also a men’s assistant coach at Division III Willamette in Salem, Ore., as well as women’s basketball assistant at the University of Montana before being hired at NIC. His first official day on campus in Coeur d’Alene was Monday.

“I’ve coached men’s and women’s basketball since I started out,” said Covill, who played at Montana in the early 90s, graduating in 1996. “My first coaching job was a JV girls job at Loyola High in Missoula. Back then, girls basketball was in the fall, and I’d help with the boys side in the winter. When I went to Willamette, I was coaching a girls AAU team, so I’ve always felt comfortable coaching both sides.”

Covill was an assistant at Montana in 2019-2020 and again during the 20-21 season, coaching former Sandpoint High star Madi Schoening.

“It was an opportunity to coach at my alma mater and elevate myself in the coaching profession,” Covill said. “It was something I couldn’t pass up. To work with great people and have the chance to bring it back full circle was pretty cool.”

As an assistant, he also had some experiences that he missed as a player.

“As a player, you run out to the fight song and everyone is standing and clapping,” Covill said. “I was never the person standing and clapping. But as a coach, when that happens, we stand and clap. It was a lot of deja vu. A lot of the same people that were in the stands cheering us on and still supporting the team. There’s a lot of people that supported you as a player and then again as a coach, and that was cool to have and coach at a place that gave me so many chances as an athlete.”

Covill’s office overlooks the court at Christianson Gymnasium.

“It’s a beautiful view from my office,” Covill said. “You can stare right out onto the court. Both (athletic director) Shawn (Noel) and (NIC coordinator of athletics) Felicia (Andrade) have been great, and so has (men’s basketball coach) Corey (Symons) as far as helping me with things.”

Covill takes over for George Swason, who accepted an assistant position at the University of Evansville in Indiana after being named women’s coach in May.

“I’ve got some roster spots to fill, walk-ons and some scholarship opportunities,” Covill said. “But I feel like I’ve made some inroads on that. The kids on the roster, I’m OK with where we’re at. I’ve talked to all the girls and am looking forward to building a bond and establishing who they are.”

NIC finished 14-11 last season, falling in the opening round of the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament.

“I think I want to play faster, and we’ll see if we can play fast,” Covill said. “I’m more of a defense-oriented guy and like to make adjustments that way. We’re going to be hard-nosed and get after it defensively. My job is to put them in spots to see what we can do well and can’t do and adjust to that.”