MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Darris Nichols admits he’s going to have plenty of mixed emotions when he sees his old team sitting on the other side of the scorer’s table on Saturday afternoon when Florida plays West Virginia in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

 

Nichols, an outstanding four-year performer for the Mountaineers playing for John Beilein and Bob Huggins, is now a first-year assistant coach on Mike White’s Gator staff. Nichols caught on with White during White’s tremendous run at Louisiana Tech, the Bulldogs winning the Conference USA title last season during Darris’ second year there as an assistant coach.

 

Prior to that, Nichols worked at Wofford and Northern Kentucky after starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach under Huggins at WVU in 2011.

 

“Huggs is the guy who gave me my start in the business, bringing me back after I was done playing as his grad assistant coach,” Nichols said earlier today. “That was only six years ago and the things I’ve learned from him and the opportunities he gave me have led me to the University of Florida right now.”

 

Following a year playing overseas, Nichols returned to Morgantown and was working at the Waterfront Hotel when Huggs asked him to come over to the WVU Coliseum to help out with the program.

 

From there, Nichols’ coaching career has really blossomed.

 

“I tell our guys all the time, six years ago I was working at the Waterfront Hotel living on Ted Talkington’s couch and now I’m working at the University of Florida,” he laughed. “The year after I got hurt overseas I came back and was parking cars so you never know.”

 

What Nichols learned during that one season working alongside Huggins he says will stick with him forever.

 

“The main thing I learned was about developing relationships and how relationships are everything,” he explained. “People always ask me, ‘How was it playing for Huggs?’ Is he hard on you? Did you like him?’ People want you to say, ‘No, I didn’t like him because he is hard on you’ but the people who are hard on you are the people you appreciate because they want the best for you. It’s like that teacher or coach growing up who wasn’t very hard on you, you were like, ‘Man, I wish my coach would have done this!’”

 

What makes Huggins so special as a coach is not necessarily his vast knowledge, or the experiences he’s had through the years, but instead how he is able to relay that knowledge and experience to his players in a way they can understand and relate to.

 

Nichols explains.

 

“What people don’t realize about him - and a big reason why his guys always get better - is because he’s a storyteller,” said Nichols. “Kids nowadays always want to hear a story and he has a story for everything because he’s coached so many different players. He can kind of tell you why he’s doing this and there is always a story behind it and that story always sticks with you.”

 

And while Huggins is basically running the same offensive plays he ran 30 years ago, what he’s doing on defense is dramatically different than what Nichols remembers when he played for him in 2008 and later when he coached with him in 2011.

 

When Nichols was a player for Huggins, West Virginia was still using the remnants of the 1-3-1 zone defense Beilein ran with his point guard playing in the back of the defense.

 

Huggins used variations of Beilein’s zone because of the players he inherited during Nichols’ senior season in 2008, but he also introduced some of the traditional man-to-man stuff his Cincinnati teams were well-known for through the years as well.

 

Today, Nichols admits he’s looking at a totally different team defensively than what he remembers the way Huggins extends his defense from base line to base line.

 

“I was talking to (assistant coach) Larry (Harrison) the other day and I said, ‘Larry, y’all are playing different than when I was there. Huggs was holding me back! He wouldn’t let me get out there and press like you guys are doing!’” Nichols joked. “It shows that great coaches can adapt to the pieces they have. He’s done an unbelievable job with the guys that he’s brought in.”

 

Nichols said the Gators are really looking forward to Saturday’s game because it’s an opportunity to get back on track against a top 10-ranked team at home following Tuesday night’s disappointing one-point loss at Vanderbilt.

 

The game will also be televised nationally on ESPN.

 

“We’re looking at this as a great opportunity,” he said. “There are not too many times on your schedule when you can play the No. 9 team in the country. With us coming off Vandy and after you guys, I don’t even know who we have after that. I’m just trying to keep it to two games at a time or else I’ll get all mixed up. It’s like reading two books at once.”

 

The Gators are currently fifth in the SEC at 5-3 with a 13-7 overall record. Florida won three straight before Tuesday night’s 60-59 loss, including an impressive 32-point home victory against Auburn last Saturday.

 

By and large, Nichols said his first season in Gainesville has been extremely positive despite the enormous expectations of replacing a legendary coach such as Billy Donovan.

 

“When you follow a hall of famer people want you to prove yourself every day and when you have a guy like Billy Donovan who you come after, it’s going to be challenging because people don’t like to deal with change,” he said. “We are aware of that, but everyone has been great so far. The fan support has been good; our attendance has been good. I think our game against you guys is already sold out.

 

“The thing about it is we’ve got coachable kids,” Nichols continued. “They listen and they want to be good. You have to kick them out of the gym sometimes after practice. We have six baskets and sometimes they have to walk over to the other side and shoot on the women’s court, so that’s a good thing when you’ve got guys that want to get in the gym.”

 

As for his experiences at WVU, Nichols says he doesn’t have a specific game or moment that stands out, but rather the general experience of playing at a tremendous university for two outstanding coaches with a bunch of great teammates on some of the most successful basketball teams in school history.

 

That in itself is the most rewarding experience of all.

 

“When I was going through the whole recruiting process I remember (former Beilein staffer) Bill Lilly was at Radford for a long time and when he went over with Beilein I had a relationship with him. He told me if I played basketball at West Virginia University they will remember you forever,” Nichols said. “I’m in high school and I’m not thinking anything of it, so I play four years there and then I come back for a football game and I’m walking around and I can’t go from one tailgate to the next without people coming up to me speaking to me. That’s how the Mountaineer fan base is – how supportive they are.”

 

Nichols will have to fight to suppress some of those emotions for a couple hours on Saturday, but then afterward he will say his hellos and goodbyes and get ready for Florida’s next game on Wednesday night against Arkansas.

 

It’s the same deal with his buddies on the other side of the scorer’s table as well, who will be looking forward to next Tuesday night’s big game at Iowa State.

 

Such is the life of a college basketball coach.

 

“You don’t want to lose but at the end of the day you are going through the same things they are going through. Every day we’re all going through the same type of stuff,” he concluded.

 

Indeed, they are.