Coaching runs in the Whitmore family.

Bill Whitmore – former Concord High School athletic director from 1990-2006 – was the men’s basketball coach at the University of Vermont and an assistant at St. Bonaventure in the ‘80s. Now his son, Nick, has a new opportunity on a Division I coaching staff, recently named an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming under head coach Jeff Linder.

A 2002 graduate of Concord High, Whitmore’s path has taken him all over the country, crisscrossing various levels of the sport. He studied undergrad at the University of Rhode Island and worked with the men’s basketball program before transferring to Boise State to finish his degree and continuing to gain experience in college basketball. He subsequently worked as the director of operations for the University of San Francisco, and then moved to the prep school level where he coached at the Drew School in San Francisco, the New Hampton School in New Hampshire and the Asheville School in North Carolina, where he worked most recently.

Now, he’s back where he began: Division I men’s basketball, at a program in Wyoming that plays in the Mountain West, the same conference as San Diego State, this year’s national runner-up.

Just last year, the Cowboys finished the season 25-9 and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2015. Though the program took a step back in 2022-23, finishing 9-22, Linder’s confident that Whitmore can help guide them back on track.

“I have known Nick for many years, and he is an up-and-coming coach who will impact the program in many different areas,” he said in a press release. “Being a very successful prep school coach at the Asheville School and New Hampton School Prep, he has established a vast network of recruiting contacts not only here in the States but internationally.”

‘A non-traditional path’

Whitmore found his love for basketball in Concord, always working at the basketball camps his father ran every summer.

“I’ve always loved developing relationships with players,” he said. “It’s been fun for me, doing it at every level from youth basketball to AAU to high school to college and prep. I like the fact that you can really help kids reach their goals.”

Added Bill: “It bit Nick at an early age where he said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ He knows how hard college coaching is too. It’s not an easy profession.”

Few would know that much better than the elder Whitmore. Coaching at the highest level often requires frequent moves across the country, and more than anything, requires buy-in from an entire family, something Bill’s reminded his son throughout his career.

“You’re out recruiting, you’re out coaching, you’re just working all the time,” Bill said. “Your family has to be supportive of getting into the college game.”

Nick’s path to Laramie, a college town of about 32,000 in the southeastern part of the state, perhaps didn’t follow the conventional route coaches generally take to Division I assistant positions.

Those interested in coaching often work as directors of operations (like Whitmore did at USF), and then assistants at smaller programs, working their way up to ultimately becoming a head coach if that’s the goal. Whitmore’s pivot to work at prep schools – running his own programs and gaining that experience networking with a number of college coaches – provides him a unique lens to his current role.

“It’s a bit of a non-traditional path,” Whitmore said. “But it’s something that I was strategic with when I thought about it, almost nine years ago, to try to build a network and expand and really reach out to different demographics, whether it’s Europe or New England or the South or California. Hopefully that’s given me a good base to be able to go out and recruit and find some kids that can help us win here.”

And, of course, he joins a long list of Concord natives involved in the highest levels of athletics around the country.

“Whether it’s Matt Blake with the New York Yankees or Carson Cistulli with the Toronto Blue Jays or the Bonners (Matt and Luke) who I grew up with, it’s a pretty cool thing to have all these people involved in high-level athletics from Concord,” he said. “(It’s) a testament to the city that we have people in the NBA and MLB and Division I ranks. I’m just excited to be part of it and excited to get back to New Hampshire to recruit a little bit in the fall.”

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