Dan Nichols
Head Coach Dan Nichols left his hometown, Syracuse, NY, and arrived in Phoenix in time to spend his senior season with the Maryvale Panthers in 1979. He became an Artichoke at Scottsdale Community College and won the “Sophomore” award in 1982.
Dan started his coaching career as freshman basketball coach at Camelback High School in 1985, then moved to Isaac Junior High School, where he won state titles in 1992 and 1995. Dan was asked to return to his alma mater, Maryvale, whose program had fallen on hard times during the previous decade. Dan and his staff took the Panthers to the state playoffs in his second year, and then posted three successive winning seasons and playoff appearances.
Dan joined Scott Mossman at California Baptist University in 1999 as first assistant coach. The team promptly posted its best season in years. Dan returned to Phoenix to rebuild an ailing Central High School program in 2000. In 2001, Dan accepted the head coaching job at SMCC. During his first four years, the men’s program was at the top of the conference and battled yearly for the regional title. The Cougars won their first Region I Championship in 2005. Dan has two daughters, Rachel, 15, and Danni, 10.