Darris Nichols Makes Top 40 Coaches Under 40 List

Former West Virginia basketball star Darris Nichols has transitioned quite nicely from his time as a player to a coach and is now being recognized by ESPN as one of the best young coaches in college basketball.

Recently, ESPN released an article of the top 40 coaches under the age of 40 - Darris Nichols (age 35) checked in at No. 18 on the list.

Nichols played at West Virginia from 2004-08 and during his career as a Mountaineer, he averaged 7.0 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.2 rebounds while playing in 141 games (75 starts). He helped guide West Virginia to the NIT championship in 2006-07 and played a role of upsetting the No. 2 seed Duke in the 2008 NCAA tournament. Nichols was a freshman the year West Virginia upset a Chris Paul-lead Wake Forest team on the way to the Elite Eight.

He got his start in coaching just two years after his playing days in Morgantown concluded and became a graduate assistant on Bob Huggins' staff. Nichols got his first true coaching gig as an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky from 2011-2013. He has also made stops at Wofford (2013-14) and Louisiana Tech (2014-15) prior to following Mike White to the University of Florida for his first Power Five job.

Nichols seems to be on the verge of potentially landing his first head coaching position and it will be interesting to see where that first job takes him.

Do you see Darris Nichols returning to the West Virginia coaching staff in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

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