[2] Nakama graduated from Willamette in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and earned a master's in the same subject from the University of Northern Colorado in 1986.

[1] In 1991, Nakama earned his first head coaching position at Mission College in Santa Clara, California, where he remained for five seasons.

He led Mission to the state junior college tournament in 1995 and 1996 and earned Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1996.

[1] Meggs formally named Nakama the associate head coach on September 2, 2011.

[8] On July 24, 2017, Nakama returned to Washington to be a volunteer assistant coach for his second stint working under Lindsay Meggs.