For the second time in four seasons, the LSU menโs basketball team will have an interim head coach when the NCAA tournament begins later this week.
Tony Benford guided the Tigers for the final game of the 2018-19 season and Southeastern Conference and NCAA tournaments while Will Wade was indefinitely suspended from his coaching duties after possible recruiting violations came to light.
On Saturday afternoon, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Kevin Nickelberry was tabbed by athletic director Scott Woodward to lead the team for however long it lasts in the NCAA tournament after Wade was fired for those same recruiting allegations.
Associate head coach Bill Armstrong was also fired after LSU received a notice of allegations from the Complex Case Unit, a part of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process that was charged with looking into irregularities in the schoolโs basketball and football programs.
So who is Nickelberry? And where has the 57-year-old coached before coming to LSU in the fall of 2019 as a special assistant to the head coach and being elevated to assistant coach a year later?
Nickelberry was hired by Wade, whom heโs known since joining Oliver Purnellโs staff at Clemson in 2003, following a nine-year stint as head coach at Howard University in his hometown of Washington, D.C.
A 1986 graduate of Virginia Wesleyan University, where he played basketball, Nickelberry was head coach at Hampton from 2006-09 and Howard from 2010-19.
As a 27-year old in 1991, he began a three-year run as the womenโs head coach at NAIA member Columbia Union.
After taking his team to three consecutive NAIA playoff appearances from 1991-94, Nickelberry was hired as a menโs assistant at Howard.
He also served as an assistant at Monmouth, Holy Cross and Charlotte before landing at Clemson, where he met a young, energetic student manager named Will Wade.
As a head coach, Nickelberry compiled a 43-32 record at Columbia Union and was 145-238 in his 12 seasons at Hampton and Howard.
He was 49-44 at Hampton before going to DePaul as an assistant for one season, then went back to Howard as head coach, where he was 96-194 with seven losing seasons and two .500 seasons.
While at Hampton, Nickelberry was ranked among the top “Up-and-Coming” coaches by Sporting News and in 2008 after putting together two recruiting classes that finished in the top 60 nationally.
Nickelberry also was recognized by Basketball Times, Hoop Scoop and as one of the top assistants in the country.
As an assistant, he's helped four teams โ including this yearโs LSU squad โ reach the NCAA tournament.
He went with Holy Cross in 2001 and Charlotte in 2002 before helping LSU reach the Big Dance last season, where the Tigers went 1-1 with a win over St. Bonaventure before falling to Michigan.
During his time on Wadeโs staff, Nickelberry has worked heavily in pregame scouting and in-game coaching. Heโs been involved in game management, timeout and late-game coordination and also worked in player development with the teamโs guards.
Nickelberry was also head coach of the Libya National Team in 2009-10.
He and his wife, Felicia, have three sons โ Carter, Kyan and Kelby.
Kevin Nickelberry file
Seasons at LSU: 3
Position: Assistant to the head coach (2019-20), assistant coach/recruiting coordinator (2020-22)
Born: Oct. 15, 1964 (57 years old)
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Education: Virginia Wesleyan, 1986
College Coaching Experience
1991-94: Head coach, Columbia Union (women)
1995-98: Assistant coach, Howard
1998-99: Assistant coach, Monmouth
1999-01: Assistant coach, Holy Cross
2001-03: Assistant coach, Charlotte
2003-06: Assistant coach, Clemson
2006-09: Head coach, Hampton
2009-10: Assistant coach, DePaul
2010-19: Head coach, Howard
2019-20: Assistant to the head coach, LSU
2020-22: Assistant coach, LSU