Hall of Fame coach Dave Nicholson and current Fishers girls basketball coach Lauren Votaw are among those who will speak at the 2020 Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Spring Clinic.
The dates for the 2020 Clinic now are TBA. (It was to be April 24-25 at Lawrence North High School, but the event now is postponed to dates not yet determined.)
Cost to attend the clinic is $50 for current-year IBCA members and $100 for non-members.
Indiana Fever coach Marianne Stanley, Xavier University men’s coach Travis Steele and Miami (Ohio) men’s coach Jack Owens are the featured speakers for the Clinic. They are headliners on an itinerary that also includes talks from 12 current high school coaches, an “Issues and Answers” with soon-to-be IHSAA commissioner Paul Neidig and IBCA leaders, a round-table session with three retired coaches and the annual IBCA awards program.
In addition to the featured speakers, 12 high school coaches are set to lead sessions on a variety of topics such as “Skill Development for Wings and Guards,” “Dribble Drive Breakdown Drills” or “Team Defense.”
Boys coaches scheduled to speak are Marc Davidson of Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian, Al Gooden of Lawrence Central, Nate Hawkins of Heritage Hills, David McCollough of Shenandoah, Marc Urban of Chesterton and Kendall Wildey of South Decatur. Other girls coaches on the agenda are Brandon Appleton of Angola, Chris Giffin of Lawrence North, Jerry Hickey of Salem, Brian Smith of Loogootee and Adam Yoder of NorthWood.
In addition, a round-table of retired coaches tips off the clinic agenda. Nicholson, Charles Mair and Virgil Sweet will be on a panel moderated by Indiana SportsTalk host Bob Lovell. The three coaches will discuss steps that they took to make their programs successful for the long run.
The planned clinic agenda (other than the new dates) can be found at ibcacoaches.com/news-events/ibca-clinic/clinic-schedule/
Dave Nicholson was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 after he put together a 402-171 record in a 25-season coaching career at New Ross, Darlington, Benton Central and Noblesville.
His teams averaged more than 16 victories per season, posted three undefeated varsity regular seasons, captured championships in five different conferences and won 11 sectionals. Along the way, he was named an IBCA District 3 Coach of the Year in 1981, 1984 and 1986.
In addition, Nicholson received 13 other additional Coach of the Year awards, coached an Indiana All-Star, coached NBA player and served as an assistant coach for the 1986 Indiana All-Stars. He also served on the IBCA Board of Directors in 1979-80 and as IBCA president in 1982-83.
Nicholson is a 1959 graduate of Vallonia High School (now part of Brownstown Central), where he played varsity basketball for three seasons and was part of a 28-student senior class. He matriculated to Indiana State, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1965 and a master’s degree in 1968.
Nicholson began his coaching career as an assistant coach for one season at Brook (now part of South Newton). He then became head coach at New Ross (now part of Southmont) for two seasons, Darlington (now part of North Montgomery) for two seasons and Benton Central for five seasons.
At Darlington, his Indians won the school’s only sectional championship while posting a pair of undefeated regular seasons. He also “doubled up” in one of those seasons by guiding a “B” team to an unbeaten record. At Benton Central, his Bison captured the first two sectional crowns in program history.
Nicholson’s greatest success came at Noblesville, where his teams posted a 255-114 record, went undefeated in the 1983-84 regular season and won eight sectionals in 16 years – all played at Carmel – that concluded with the 1990-91 season (1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990 and 1991). The 1981 title was the Millers’ first since 1964.
Since retiring from coaching, Nicholson has served as an analyst for locally televised games for the past 28 seasons. He also has served on the board of directors for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame for nearly 30 years and had a two-year term as the IBHOF president.
Nicholson was inducted into the Hamilton County Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005, the Montgomery County Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Noblesville High School Hall of Fame in 2014.
He and his wife, Julia, have been married for 55 years. The couple has one son, Dan, who also was a successful high school basketball coach at Lebanon, and two grandsons.
