4/14/2023 basketball Edit

FSU hires Kevin Nickelberry as assistant coach

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

Editor

The Florida State men's basketball team has hired longtime Hampton and Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry as an assistant coach.

Nickelberry was recently an assistant coach at LSU from 2019-22 and at Georgetown last season. He will replace R-Jay Barsh, who is expected to be announced as an assistant coach at Gonzaga.

The 58-year-old Nickelberry is connected with a few potential transfer portal prospects. His cousin is La Salle guard Josh Nickelberry, who is on a visit to Tallahassee this weekend. But Nickelberry also coached Georgetown guard Primo Spears and he was the lead recruiter at LSU for center Efton Reid, who is in the transfer portal. Reid considered FSU coming out of high school.

Nickelberry is 96-194 as a head coach. He has also had assistant coaching stops at Charlotte (2001-03), Clemson (2003-06) and DePaul (2009-10).

FSU's 2022-23 team is in flux with Caleb Mills and Matthew Cleveland entering the transfer portal. Mills has landed at Memphis, while Cleveland is weighing his options. Forward Baba Miller announced on Friday he would return to FSU for his sophomore season.