Coach James is originally from Charleston, South Carolina, where he began his swimming career in his youth and also had his first taste of coaching with the local summer swim league. He attended West Virginia University, where he specialized in long-distance freestyle, ultimately achieving an NCAA B cut in the 1650 free in 2017.  As a senior in 2018, Koval was named the Big 12 Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men’s swimming and diving, and as of 2026, he still ranks among the top ten performers in WVU school history in both the 1000 and 1650 free. James graduated from WVU in 2020 with a master's in chemical engineering before deciding to pursue coaching full-time.