Darris Nichols
 Nichols in 2016 | |
| La Salle Explorers | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| League | Atlantic 10 Conference |
| Personal information | |
| Born | May 20, 1986 Radford, Virginia, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Radford (Radford, Virginia) |
| College | West Virginia (2004–2008) |
| NBA draft | 2008: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2008–2009 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 14 |
| Coaching career | 2010–present |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 2008–2009 | Atomerőmű SE |
Coaching | |
| 2010–2011 | West Virginia (graduate assistant) |
| 2011–2013 | Northern Kentucky (assistant) |
| 2013–2014 | Wofford (assistant) |
| 2014–2015 | Louisiana Tech (assistant) |
| 2015–2021 | Florida (assistant) |
| 2021–2025 | Radford |
| 2025–present | La Salle |
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
[edit]College
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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.
La Salle
[edit]La Salle hired Nichols as their new head coach on March 11, 2025, replacing the retiring Fran Dunphy.[1]
Personal life
[edit]In February 2023, Nichols was arrested[8] and ultimately pled guilty[9] to DUI. Nichols was suspended for several games at Radford but returned to coaching a few weeks later. [10]
Head coaching record
[edit]| 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
[edit]- ^ a b "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. April 21, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ "New Gators Assistants Have a Competitive History; Pumped to Join White at UF". Florida Gators. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ "Darris Nichols helyére új légióst keres az Atomerőmű". TEOL a Tolna megyei hírportál. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ "WVU v. Florida: The nick of time". Charleston Gazette-Mail. January 30, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ "NKU's Bezold adds former West Virginia standout Nichols to coaching staff". Northern Kentucky University Athletics. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ "White Completes @LATechHoops Coaching Staff with Nichols". LA Tech Athletics. June 26, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ Smith, Jazmine Otey, Samantha (February 21, 2023). "Radford University men's basketball coach charged with DUI, blew triple legal BAC limit". WSLS.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Cockerham, Amy (May 16, 2023). "Radford basketball coach to head back to court after positive interlock reading". WSLS.
- ^ DirtKing, The (May 15, 2023). "REPORT: Radford's Nichols headed back to court following positive interlock reading".