Darris Nichols

Biography

Darris Nichols was announced as La Salle University's 21st head men's basketball coach on March 11, 2025. Most recently, he served as head coach at Radford University, where he amassed two 20-win seasons in four years (68-63), including a 20-13 record during the 2024-25 season. In his second season at Radford in 2022-23, Nichols guided the Highlanders to a 21-15 overall record with a 12-6 mark in Big South play, earning a bid to the College Basketball Invitational and winning multiple postseason contests in the same season for the first time in program history. His coaching experience includes assistant positions at Florida, Louisiana Tech, Wofford, and Northern Kentucky. Named to ESPN.com's prestigious 40 Under 40 list in 2020, Nichols helped coach Florida to a 123-75 record with four straight 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament bids, coaching eight future NBA players including Dorian Finney-Smith, Andrew Nembhard, and Tre' Mann. As a four-year standout at West Virginia in the Big East, Nichols scored 993 career points and dished out 399 assists while shooting .375 from 3-point range, helping the Mountaineers to a 26-11 record and Sweet 16 appearance as a senior in 2008. He averaged 10.7 points and 3.2 assists per game as a senior and was a member of the 2007 NIT Championship, 2006 Sweet 16, and 2005 Elite Eight teams, finishing as a top-five winningest player in Mountaineer history. Nichols received the Big East Academic All-Star and Sportsmanship Award twice and earned the