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| Nichols' new head coach Brandon Linton played Division III basketball at Clarkson and coached at Bowdoin under Tim Gilbride. Army West Point athletics photo |
For the second consecutive offseason, Nichols College men's basketball followed a successful season with a coaching change. This time the Bison hired Army West Point assistant Brandon Linton to replace Scott Faucher who took the top job at Division II Assumption College.
Nichols Interim Director of Athletics Eric Gobiel announced Linton's hiring on June 13.
"Brandon was selected from an extremely talented pool of candidates and we are excited for him to begin building upon the tremendous success of our men's basketball program," said Gobiel in the release. "Brandon brings exceptional coaching and leadership experience from a variety of NCAA programs, and I am confident he is exactly the right person to continue to elevate our program in the years to come."
Linton inherits a Bison program coming off its best season. Nichols went 28-3, knocked off Amherst in the NCAA Tournament sectional semifinals and finished ranked No. 8 in the country. That successful campaign helped Scott Faucher land the head coaching job at Division II Assumption College after just one season at Nichols. Faucher came to Nichols after Tom Glynn left Nichols to take the top job at Rhode Island College last summer.
Linton spent the last five seasons on the coaching staff of former Division III head coach Jimmy Allen at Army West Point. According to Nichols' release, Linton was responsible for scouting, developing the Cadets' wing players, underclass recruiting in New England, and coaching the junior varsity team. Like Faucher, Linton spent time on Tim Gilbride's staff at Bowdoin, for Linton as the recruiting coordinator in 2012. And like Faucher, Linton was named one of the NABC's top 30 coaches under the age of 30.
"I cannot wait to begin the process of getting to know our current players and continuing to build on the foundation they have created," Linton said in the release. "I would also like to thank head coach Jimmy Allen, my fellow assistants, and the student-athletes at Army for a great ride these past five seasons."
Nichols graduates All-American Marcos Echevarria, who finished his career third all-time in Division III for made three-pointers, but the Bison should return their other four starters, including DeAnte Bruton who was fourth-team All-Region last season.