Seminoles Add Veteran Assistant Coach Kevin Nickelberry to Leonard Hamilton's Staff
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Kevin Nickelberry, a veteran coach of more than 30 years in the ACC, SEC and Big East, has been named an assistant coach at Florida State by Seminole Head Coach Leonard Hamilton. Nickelberry has coaching experience as both a head coach and as an assistant coach at the highest levels of college basketball, with nearly 200 career wins and appearances in both the NCAA and CBI Tournaments as a head coach. Nickelberry has been a part of seven programs that have made postseason appearances.
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Nickelberry comes to Florida State following one season as the Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Georgetown in the Big East. He helped Georgetown gain the No. 2 ranked Transfer Portal recruiting class in the nation in 2022.
Prior to his year with the Hoyas, Nickelberry spent three seasons helping build LSU into an NCAA Tournament team. In his three years with the Tigers, LSU advanced to the 2021 and 2022 NCAA Tournaments (2020 was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic) and achieved 20 wins in two of his three years.
Nickelberry’s ability to assess talent contributed to the Tigers bring in top-10 recruiting classes in each of his three years in Baton Rouge. The Tigers’ 2020 recruiting class as ranked No. 5 nationally in 2020, No. 6 in the nation in 2021 and No. 9 in the nation in 2022.
“Kevin Nickelberry brings the entire coaching package to our staff,” said Hamilton. “He’s been successful as a head coach, an assistant coach, and an administrator. He’s a proven winner at the highest levels of college basketball. Because of his experience as a head coach and a recruiter on so many levels, he has such a vast knowledge of how to find and coach players who will fit our system. Simply put, his resume speaks for itself.”
Nickelberry has been named as one of the nation’s top assistant coaches in the nation numerous times by both Basketball Times, Hoop Scoop and Rivals. He has been recognized throughout his career as one of the top-20 assistant coaches in the nation, including in each of the last two seasons by ABIS (Advancement of Blacks in Sports).
His 2019 Howard squad became the first team at the school since 1992 to advance to postseason play, earning a spot in the College Basketball Invitational tournament. His teams at Howard recorded GPAs of at least 3.0 in eight of his seasons as the Bison’s Head Coach.
“I’m truly blessed to be at Florida State with Coach Hamilton and in the ACC,” said Nickelberry. “As a Washington, D.C. native, I grew up in the shadows of Cole Field House at the University of Maryland. The ACC is the best college basketball conference in the country. The opportunity to work at one of the top programs in the ACC is something I have dreamed about throughout my coaching career.”
*Press release courtesy of Florida State Athletics
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