Kansas State University Athletics
More Than Just Nachos; A Chat with “Coach Nick”
May 16, 2024 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
We're sitting in the third and fourth stools along a polished wood dining table that overlooks the bowling alley below. Large video screens beam "Billy's Blue Duck BBQ" against dim lights that make the Willie Wildcat cutout upon the table seem darker shades of purple. For the next hour, everything will be purple at the Kansas State Catbacker gathering in Liberal, Kansas. Mike Nicholson is in the middle of laughing at his 10-year-old self, clasping his hands while raising an imaginary trophy, and shooting a smile that kids do when they've done something neat.
"When I was doing different athletics, or whatever it was, soapbox derby, I wanted to win a trophy as a kid," he says. "There was a free-throw shooting competition at our grade school that was sponsored by Elks Lodge and I came in second or third and got a trophy. I've been hooked on basketball ever since."
He laughs again.
"My soapbox cars couldn't win any races in Boy Scouts, but I did get a trophy for shooting free throws."
Nicholson, 56, is the kind of guy who makes hardened listeners shake their shoulders in laughter, the kind of guy you want to see at a dinner party, a guy who in K-State women's basketball circles is known for "Nachos with Nick" (a production that he puts on for season-ticket holders in the Shamrock Zone for women's basketball games at Bramlage Coliseum), and a guy who grew up telling jokes with friends — a spark of humor born from his late father, Dr. Ivan Nicholson, a 1962 K-State graduate in the School of Veterinarian Medicine, who harbored a sense of dry wit and humor.
It was while growing up in Holdrege that Mike grew to love the game of basketball and he played it in high school. Then he played it again for one season at Nebraska Wesleyan University, then discovered beer and pizza at Missouri, graduated with a business degree in 1990, worked in business for six months, then stepped into the arena of basketball coaching. He penned letters to college basketball coaches across the nation to ask for advice on landing a job, he became a volunteer coach at Kansas City (he received his master's degree in Educational Administration from UMKC in 1994), and for $100 a month he lived on a couch in an apartment shared by two fraternity brothers, and eventually he became an assistant coach. He was a member of the staff that led Kansas City to its most Division I wins in history.
Through coaching circles, during a stint as top assistant at Missouri Western, he met a young coach named Jeff Mittie.
"This would've been 1997 or 1998, that kind of range, and we had similar ties, because he played for Tom Smith at Missouri Western, who I coached for at Missouri Western, so kind of how coaching trees work, (Mittie and I) were friends from there.
"And I've been going on (with coaching) ever since."
Nicholson makes no mention that after his 14 seasons over two stints at Missouri Western that he became top assistant for the Central Missouri women's basketball team, helped the Jennies to a 2018 NCAA Division II National Championship and earned 2021 WBCA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
Today, he's preparing for his fourth season as Chief of Staff for a K-State women's basketball program that is in the midst of one of its best eras in history. The Wildcats went 26-8 overall and 13-5 in the Big 12 Conference this past season, rose to No. 2 in both major polls, beat No. 2 Iowa and Caitlin Clark, and finished their season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. There's talk that the veteran Wildcats, who possess a senior-laden starting lineup, could have their best season ever in 2024-25.
"Very excited," Nicholson says. "We have a great combination of talent and experience and if we can maintain the chemistry and hard work that we had this past year, it could be a really special year."
Currently, Nicholson is tapping his left index finger on the wood table to underscore his lists of people, places and things — all things Mike Nicholson — in describing his various roles within the coaching staff. He wears a purple polo shirt with a white Powercat above the chest, a pair of khakis, and black-and-white old-school Nike Dunks. Nearby, purple-clad gathers feast on pulled-pork sandwiches and baked beans.
"Advanced scouting," Nicholson says, as loud country music begins to fill the dark air in the bowling alley. "I do like Xs and Os. Let's say we're playing Oklahoma on Wednesday and then Texas on Saturday and it's Monday of that week. I'd be working on the following Wednesday game at TCU. I'm always 7-10 days ahead with an advanced scout, really trying to break it down offensively and defensively and what to expect and I'll pass that onto the (assistant) coach who's serving as lead scout for that game."
There's more to it than advanced scouting. There's coaching offense, on-campus recruiting, compliance and fan engagement. Nicholson seamlessly describes each role in detail as if rolling through a rolodex.
"As an assistant, I'm always learning," he says. "If you see a gap, fill a gap. Whatever that might be."
Is there any day that you lean back and say, "This was a good day!"
"I do that basically every day, to be honest," he replies. "I'm absolutely loving it at Kansas State. I don't have too many bad days. As the saying goes, the worst day you have coaching is better than the best day some people might have at their jobs. I believe in that."
Nicholson had one of his best days in February 1999.
"Is Michael Nicholson there?" the female voice asked on the other end of the phone.
It was as ordinary as folding socks that Nicholson received phone calls from telemarketers. This time was different. It was a woman named Mary. Before Nicholson could hang up, she was telling him things that only he would know. She told him that she was his birth mother.
He was born March 18, 1968, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, put up for adoption, and Ivan and Dorothy Nicholson adopted him two weeks later.
"God bless my birth mother," he says. "She went back in this day in age to see if she could find me, and she hired a private investigator and went back to the records and some nurse forgot to erase my name off page 20 of a document and they found that, and she tracked me down and got to meet my folks. It was a great interaction. It's been amazing. I've been really lucky to have two moms — a birth mom and a mom."
He pauses and assumes a more serious tone.
"I'm fortunate to have two moms," he continues. "It took a lot of courage for my birth mom to do what she did, it took a lot of courage for my parents to adopt me, and it took a lot of courage for her at the end — she didn't know what kind of reaction she was going to get. My parents were wonderful about it, and I was grateful.
"I stepped into a new family."
Nicholson lost both his father, Ivan, and mother, Dorothy, in 2020. Dorothy died due to Covid. Ivan and Dorothy had been married for 67 years.
Nicholson's birth mother brought Mike's half-sister to a K-State women's basketball game this past February.
"It was a game that was down to the wire," he says. "Feels like it was the UCF game. They got to catch the fever.
"It was great to have my birth mom and half-sister come to Manhattan and get a taste for the crowd and the passion and for all that my job entails. Then they followed us intently. They were figuring out how to watch it back in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They probably hadn't watched basketball in 20 years."
And now Nicholson prepares for his fourth season in Manhattan, a spot he loves full well, a city that brims with anticipation, a city that continues to grow in its passion for women's basketball.
"Last year should help with expectations because we deservedly rose up the polls so quickly to No. 2 in the country and then every game out it was like expectations — they got it, they understood it and they played some really good basketball when we had that ranking over our heads and everybody was giving us their best shot," he says. "We know what that's about. The experience of that should pay dividends this year."
Moments later, Nicholson is called to a makeshift stage that is hoisted along the bowling lanes below, and the man they adoringly call "Coach Nick" springs into action, grabs a microphone, tells stories, laughing, leaving the crowd breathless, and shooting a smile that kids do when they've done something neat. Inside, there's still that 10-year-old who won the trophy, the young man who fell in love with basketball for the first time.
Today, he's a 56-year-old in the fast lane of women's college basketball, who is grateful for every step along his path, who immerses himself with breaking down opponents' tendencies to dribble drive to the left, who is passionate about helping teach the game of basketball to others. He is all these things and more.
And he looks forward to every conversation with the birth mother who found him.
We're sitting in the third and fourth stools along a polished wood dining table that overlooks the bowling alley below. Large video screens beam "Billy's Blue Duck BBQ" against dim lights that make the Willie Wildcat cutout upon the table seem darker shades of purple. For the next hour, everything will be purple at the Kansas State Catbacker gathering in Liberal, Kansas. Mike Nicholson is in the middle of laughing at his 10-year-old self, clasping his hands while raising an imaginary trophy, and shooting a smile that kids do when they've done something neat.
"When I was doing different athletics, or whatever it was, soapbox derby, I wanted to win a trophy as a kid," he says. "There was a free-throw shooting competition at our grade school that was sponsored by Elks Lodge and I came in second or third and got a trophy. I've been hooked on basketball ever since."
He laughs again.
"My soapbox cars couldn't win any races in Boy Scouts, but I did get a trophy for shooting free throws."
Nicholson, 56, is the kind of guy who makes hardened listeners shake their shoulders in laughter, the kind of guy you want to see at a dinner party, a guy who in K-State women's basketball circles is known for "Nachos with Nick" (a production that he puts on for season-ticket holders in the Shamrock Zone for women's basketball games at Bramlage Coliseum), and a guy who grew up telling jokes with friends — a spark of humor born from his late father, Dr. Ivan Nicholson, a 1962 K-State graduate in the School of Veterinarian Medicine, who harbored a sense of dry wit and humor.
It was while growing up in Holdrege that Mike grew to love the game of basketball and he played it in high school. Then he played it again for one season at Nebraska Wesleyan University, then discovered beer and pizza at Missouri, graduated with a business degree in 1990, worked in business for six months, then stepped into the arena of basketball coaching. He penned letters to college basketball coaches across the nation to ask for advice on landing a job, he became a volunteer coach at Kansas City (he received his master's degree in Educational Administration from UMKC in 1994), and for $100 a month he lived on a couch in an apartment shared by two fraternity brothers, and eventually he became an assistant coach. He was a member of the staff that led Kansas City to its most Division I wins in history.
Through coaching circles, during a stint as top assistant at Missouri Western, he met a young coach named Jeff Mittie.
"This would've been 1997 or 1998, that kind of range, and we had similar ties, because he played for Tom Smith at Missouri Western, who I coached for at Missouri Western, so kind of how coaching trees work, (Mittie and I) were friends from there.
"And I've been going on (with coaching) ever since."
Nicholson makes no mention that after his 14 seasons over two stints at Missouri Western that he became top assistant for the Central Missouri women's basketball team, helped the Jennies to a 2018 NCAA Division II National Championship and earned 2021 WBCA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
Today, he's preparing for his fourth season as Chief of Staff for a K-State women's basketball program that is in the midst of one of its best eras in history. The Wildcats went 26-8 overall and 13-5 in the Big 12 Conference this past season, rose to No. 2 in both major polls, beat No. 2 Iowa and Caitlin Clark, and finished their season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. There's talk that the veteran Wildcats, who possess a senior-laden starting lineup, could have their best season ever in 2024-25.
"Very excited," Nicholson says. "We have a great combination of talent and experience and if we can maintain the chemistry and hard work that we had this past year, it could be a really special year."
Currently, Nicholson is tapping his left index finger on the wood table to underscore his lists of people, places and things — all things Mike Nicholson — in describing his various roles within the coaching staff. He wears a purple polo shirt with a white Powercat above the chest, a pair of khakis, and black-and-white old-school Nike Dunks. Nearby, purple-clad gathers feast on pulled-pork sandwiches and baked beans.
"Advanced scouting," Nicholson says, as loud country music begins to fill the dark air in the bowling alley. "I do like Xs and Os. Let's say we're playing Oklahoma on Wednesday and then Texas on Saturday and it's Monday of that week. I'd be working on the following Wednesday game at TCU. I'm always 7-10 days ahead with an advanced scout, really trying to break it down offensively and defensively and what to expect and I'll pass that onto the (assistant) coach who's serving as lead scout for that game."
There's more to it than advanced scouting. There's coaching offense, on-campus recruiting, compliance and fan engagement. Nicholson seamlessly describes each role in detail as if rolling through a rolodex.
"As an assistant, I'm always learning," he says. "If you see a gap, fill a gap. Whatever that might be."
Is there any day that you lean back and say, "This was a good day!"
"I do that basically every day, to be honest," he replies. "I'm absolutely loving it at Kansas State. I don't have too many bad days. As the saying goes, the worst day you have coaching is better than the best day some people might have at their jobs. I believe in that."
Nicholson had one of his best days in February 1999.
"Is Michael Nicholson there?" the female voice asked on the other end of the phone.
It was as ordinary as folding socks that Nicholson received phone calls from telemarketers. This time was different. It was a woman named Mary. Before Nicholson could hang up, she was telling him things that only he would know. She told him that she was his birth mother.
He was born March 18, 1968, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, put up for adoption, and Ivan and Dorothy Nicholson adopted him two weeks later.
"God bless my birth mother," he says. "She went back in this day in age to see if she could find me, and she hired a private investigator and went back to the records and some nurse forgot to erase my name off page 20 of a document and they found that, and she tracked me down and got to meet my folks. It was a great interaction. It's been amazing. I've been really lucky to have two moms — a birth mom and a mom."
He pauses and assumes a more serious tone.
"I'm fortunate to have two moms," he continues. "It took a lot of courage for my birth mom to do what she did, it took a lot of courage for my parents to adopt me, and it took a lot of courage for her at the end — she didn't know what kind of reaction she was going to get. My parents were wonderful about it, and I was grateful.
"I stepped into a new family."
Nicholson lost both his father, Ivan, and mother, Dorothy, in 2020. Dorothy died due to Covid. Ivan and Dorothy had been married for 67 years.
Nicholson's birth mother brought Mike's half-sister to a K-State women's basketball game this past February.
"It was a game that was down to the wire," he says. "Feels like it was the UCF game. They got to catch the fever.
"It was great to have my birth mom and half-sister come to Manhattan and get a taste for the crowd and the passion and for all that my job entails. Then they followed us intently. They were figuring out how to watch it back in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They probably hadn't watched basketball in 20 years."
And now Nicholson prepares for his fourth season in Manhattan, a spot he loves full well, a city that brims with anticipation, a city that continues to grow in its passion for women's basketball.
"Last year should help with expectations because we deservedly rose up the polls so quickly to No. 2 in the country and then every game out it was like expectations — they got it, they understood it and they played some really good basketball when we had that ranking over our heads and everybody was giving us their best shot," he says. "We know what that's about. The experience of that should pay dividends this year."
Moments later, Nicholson is called to a makeshift stage that is hoisted along the bowling lanes below, and the man they adoringly call "Coach Nick" springs into action, grabs a microphone, tells stories, laughing, leaving the crowd breathless, and shooting a smile that kids do when they've done something neat. Inside, there's still that 10-year-old who won the trophy, the young man who fell in love with basketball for the first time.
Today, he's a 56-year-old in the fast lane of women's college basketball, who is grateful for every step along his path, who immerses himself with breaking down opponents' tendencies to dribble drive to the left, who is passionate about helping teach the game of basketball to others. He is all these things and more.
And he looks forward to every conversation with the birth mother who found him.
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