Former Radford High star Darris Nichols is coming home after being named the new head basketball coach at Radford University.
By Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
Former Radford High standout Darris Nichols was announced Wednesday as the next head coach of the Radford University Highlanders men’s basketball team
RU Athletic Director Robert Lineburg introduced Nichols to the media at a press conference.
“Darris Nichols is a star,” Lineburg said. “He was an outstanding student-athlete at Radford High School and at West Virginia University. He has climbed the ranks as an assistant coach all the way to the University of Florida in the SEC. At each stop, he has made a tremendous impact.
”He has played for and worked with some of America’s best basketball coaches, which is so important,” Lineburg said. “He is prepared and ready for this moment, and we are thrilled to welcome him home.”
The announcement came two days after former Highlanders coach Mike Jones was introduced as the coach at UNC-Greensboro.
Nichols helped lead Radford High School to four appearances in the state Group A playoffs, averaging in double-figures every season.
Nichols comes to Radford from the University of Florida after coaching there for seven seasons and helping to lead the Gators to a 108-65 record that included four straight 20-win seasons and three consecutive NCAA Tournament bids.
Nichols garnered a spot in ESPN.com’s 40 Under 40 in the summer of 2020, rated #17 on the national list that included both head coaches and assistant coaches. He was also rated the #2 assistant coach in the SEC in a stadium poll of coaches around the league.
A four-year letter-winner at West Virginia under Bob Huggins and John Beilein, Nichols helped the Mountaineers to a 26-11 record and a trip to the 2008 NCAA Sweet 16 his senior season.
At WVU, Nichols shined as a player in the Big East. He scored 993 career points and handed out 399 assists in his career. His senior season he averaged 10.7 points per game and 3.2 assists per game during WVU’s run to the Sweet 16.
He was also a member of the 2007 NIT Championship, 2006 Sweet 16 and 2005 Elite Eight teams and finished his collegiate career as one of the top five most winningest players in Mountaineer history.
Nichols went on to play professionally overseas with Atomeromu SE Paks of the Hungarian League’s A Division before returning to WVU as a graduate assistant.
Prior to his stint at Florida, he served as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech, Northern Kentucky and Wofford, where he coached for Mike Young, Virginia Tech’s current head coach.
“Darris Nichols is a lot of things,” Young said after the announcement. “He is a wonderful man. He is an excellent basketball coach and will be a terrific ambassador, not only for Radford University basketball but for Radford University as a whole. I’ve known Darris for many years. I had the opportunity to work with him back in 2014.
“His mother and father are exceptional people,” Young said. “I know he’s thrilled to have the opportunity to be a Division I men’s basketball head coach and to do it in a city that he’s very familiar with. I’m happy for him and for Radford University. He’s going to do an excellent job, and I look forward to following his progress.”
Radford is Nichols’s first head coaching gig. “I’m glad to be home,” he said after meeting with his current players and staff.
His older brother, Shane, who played for Young at Wofford, is currently an assistant coach at Murray State. It is not known if he will choose to follow his brother back to their roots and join the staff in Radford.
