MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A decade into his coaching career, former WVU point guard Darris Nichols is headed home. Nichols was introduced Wednesday as the new head coach at Radford University. The school is located in Nichols’ hometown of Radford, Va.
“Have I had my eyes on it? Yes, I am not going to lie,” Nichols said.
Before officially agreeing to become the new head coach of the Highlanders, Nichols needed to call home first to let his mother know the news.
“She said, ‘Oh, you are coming home?’ I said yes and she said, ‘What are you doing in town? How long are you in for?’ And I said, ‘However long they will have me. I don’t know’. It is special to be able to come back and see my parents. That is an early Mother’s Day present.
“Home has been where the basketball bounces for a long period of time. This one is different. Regardless where the ball bounces or not, this is home.”
Nichols played three seasons for John Beilein at WVU and he was Bob Huggins’ first point guard with the Mountaineers. He played on an NIT Championship team (2007), an Elite Eight team (2005) and a pair of Sweet 16 teams (2006 & 2008).
“With John Beilein, he is an unbelievable story teller. Every offense and defense we ran, there was a story behind it. That stuck with me to this day. With Bob Huggins, just how relentless he was on you every day. He is going to push you to the limit and get more out of you than you thought you had.”
Nichols has been an assistant coach with the Florida Gators since 2015. He has also coached at Louisiana Tech, Wofford, Northern Kentucky and WVU. Nichols takes over a Radford program that has posted a record of 81-47 over the last four seasons.
“The things I have learned, especially from my mom and dad, never complain. I don’t complain and I have never heard them complain. My dad has worked two jobs. My mom has worked two jobs. They never complained. So my teams, we are not going to complain.
“I want to be a direct correlation of this community. The two things I think of when I think of the city of Radford and Radford University are edge and humility. Whether it is on or off the court, we have to walk with humility.”