Darris Nichols (born May 20, 1986) is an American basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach at La Salle University, a role he has held since 2025.[1] He was previously the head coach at Radford University.[2]
Playing career
College
Nichols played college basketball at West Virginia, where he was a four-year letterman who played in 144 games during his four-year career.[3]
Professional
After going undrafted out of college, Nichols went on to play professionally for Atomerőmű SE, a professional team in Hungary for one season that went 10-1 and won the Hungarian cup before suffering a knee injury that ended his playing career.[4]
Coaching career
After one season playing professionally overseas, Nichols turned to his former college coach Bob Huggins to begin a coaching career, starting at his alma mater West Virginia as a graduate assistant.[5] He was named an assistant at Northern Kentucky in 2011 and spent two seasons with the team before spending a season each with Wofford and Louisiana Tech.[6][7] He joined the coaching staff at Florida in 2015 as an assistant on former Louisiana Tech head coach Mike White's staff.
Radford
Nichols was named the head coach at Radford on April 21, 2021.[2]
In year two, Radford went 21-15, finishing tied for second in the Big South Conference and advanced to post-season play, participating in the CBI Tournament. Radford had a 9 game winning streak in league play.
DUI arrest
In February 2023, Nichols was arrested[8] and ultimately pled guilty[9] to DUI after recording a blood-alcohol-content (BAC) reading of 0.25, triple the legal limit in Virginia. Nichols was suspended for several games at Radford but returned to coaching a few weeks later. [10]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radford Highlanders (Big South Conference) (2021–2025) | |||||||||
| 2021–22 | Radford | 11–18 | 7–9 | T–3rd (North) | |||||
| 2022–23 | Radford | 21–15 | 12–6 | T–2nd | CBI Semifinals | ||||
| 2023–24 | Radford | 16–17 | 5–11 | T–8th | |||||
| 2024–25 | Radford | 20–13 | 9–7 | 4th | |||||
| Radford: | 68–63 (.519) | 33–33 (.500) | |||||||
| La Salle Explorers (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2025–present) | |||||||||
| 2025–26 | La Salle | 0–0 | 0–0 | ||||||
| La Salle: | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | |||||||
| Total: | 68–63 (.519) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
- ^ "La Salle University Names Darris Nichols Head Men's Basketball Coach" (Press release). La Salle Explorers. March 11, 2025. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
- ^ a b "Darris Nichols Announced as Radford Men's Basketball Head Coach". Radford University Athletics. 21 April 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ "New Gators Assistants Have a Competitive History; Pumped to Join White at UF". Florida Gators. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ "Darris Nichols helyére új légióst keres az Atomerőmű". TEOL a Tolna megyei hírportál. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ "WVU v. Florida: The nick of time". Charleston Gazette-Mail. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ "NKU's Bezold adds former West Virginia standout Nichols to coaching staff". Northern Kentucky University Athletics. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ "White Completes @LATechHoops Coaching Staff with Nichols". LA Tech Athletics. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/02/21/radford-university-mens-basketball-coach-charged-with-dui/
- ^ https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/05/16/radford-basketball-coach-to-head-back-to-court-after-positive-interlock-reading/
- ^ https://hoopdirt.com/report-radfords-nichols-headed-back-to-court-following-positive-interlock-reading/
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