By MATT PIKE
A former top assistant with Missouri Western men's basketball who spent the past five seasons under former MoWest women's coach Jeff Mittie is now coming closer to home, returning to the university he graduated from.
Missouri women's basketball head coach Kellie Harper has added veteran assistant coach Mike Nicholson to her staff, the program announced today. Nicholson, a graduate of Savannah High School, spent 14 seasons over two stints as the top assistant at MoWest, from 1997 to 2005 and most recently from 2007 to 2013.
During his time in St. Joseph, working with former MoWest coach Tom Smith, he helped the Griffon men to 228 wins, three MIAA regular season championships, a pair of MIAA Tournament titles and five appearances in the NCAA-II Tournament. He helped in the development of two All-Americans, two MIAA MVPs and 11 All-MIAA players. Before his time at Missouri Western, he spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas City.
A WBCA National Assistant Coach of the Year honoree, Nicholson arrives at Mizzou with over 30 years of both men's and women's coaching experience, including 27 years in the state of Missouri. Throughout his career, Nicholson has developed 41 all-conference selections, seven All-Americans, two honorable mention All-Americans and a first-round NBA draft pick.
He was a member of the staff that led Kansas City to the most wins in Division I in school history and he also played a role in the development of Tony Dumas, drafted in the first round by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1994 NBA Draft. He spent the previous five seasons at Kansas State, where he served as chief of staff. During his tenure, Nicholson helped guide the Wildcats to 112 wins and three NCAA tournament berths, including a run to the 2025 Sweet 16, the program's first in 23 years. While on staff, he helped develop 10 all-conference selections and two athletes who were named All-America Honorable Mention.
Prior to Kansas State, Nicholson was the top assistant coach at Central Missouri, alongside former MoWest women's coach Dave Slifer, and worked with the guards. During his time in Warrensburg, Nicholson helped the Jennies to a 161-53 overall record, the 2018 NCAA Division II National Championship, a 2021 NCAA Division II Final Four appearance, two MIAA regular season titles, and one MIAA postseason crown. Nicholson, the 2021 WBCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, helped in the development of three-time All-American Paige Redmond as well as All-Americans Morgan Fleming and Megan Skaggs. The Jennies had five All-Americans during Nicholson's tenure and 20 named to the All-MIAA team.
A University of Missouri graduate, Nicholson played one season of college basketball at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, before transferring to Mizzou, where he received his degree in Business Administration in 1990.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.