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Lynchburg and athletic director Jon Waters are thrilled to announce the addition of Allison Nichols as the women's basketball program's sixth head coach.
Nichols comes to Lynchburg from Old Dominion Athletic Conference rival Roanoke College, where she served as the Maroons' associate head coach since 2017.
Lynchburg posted an 11-1 record, 6-1 in the ODAC, under interim coach Katie Crump. Crump was named ODAC coach of the year, as she led the Hornets to the conference title.
"Coach Nichols has a depth and variety of experiences that make her the right person to lead our program forward," Waters said. "Her passion for recruiting and commitment to student success both on and off the court will allow her to build on the success that the program has enjoyed over the past decade."
A graduate of another ODAC school, Bridgewater, Nichols brings a wealth of coaching experience at numerous levels of college basketball with her to Lynchburg. Prior to her stop at Roanoke, Nichols spent six seasons as the head coach at Randolph from 2010-16.
The Lynchburg native and Brookville High School graduate was the director of basketball operations at NCAA Division I East Carolina from 2008-10 and an assistant at Division II Augusta State from 2006-08.
"I would like to thank Jon Waters and the entire search committee for providing me with this opportunity," Nichols said. "Having the chance to come back home and lead such a special program is a dream come true for me. I'm so excited to connect with the team, alumni, and be a part of the University of Lynchburg community."
As an advocate for women in sports, Nichols helped organize the ODAC's first women in athletics symposium while at Roanoke in 2018 and served as a volunteer administrator for the NCAA Division III women's basketball championship and senior all-star game when Salem hosted the championship in 2019.
Nichols inherits a Lynchburg program in the midst of the most successful stretch in its history. The Hornets won their second-ever ODAC championship in 2021, posting an 11-1 record in the process, and Lynchburg is 104-46 since the team's first conference title in 2015-16. The team has made two NCAA Division III tournament appearances in that span.
She will begin her duties immediately.