After seven seasons with Ball State, Craig Nicholson has been named the Arizona State head softball coach.
Nicholson will join the Sun Devils, a perennial competitor in the Women’s College World Series, with high expectations.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Nicholson said. “To take over a program that is already in a great spot and is nationally recognized and those kind of things. It’s exciting to be able to go somewhere that you can kind of keep being successful instead of trying to build success.”
The challenge of rebuilding is one that Nicholson faced with Ball State.
He took over as the Cardinals’ head coach in 2006. The team went 22-34 that year, the first and only time they would finish below .500 under his leadership.
Over its next six regular season campaigns, Ball State captured three Mid-American Championships (2009, 2010, 2012).
In each of those three years, Nicholson also coached the MAC Player of the Year. Most recently, it was rising senior outfielder Jennifer Gilbert.
Gilbert became the first All-American in program history after her successful season. She led the team with a .451 batting average, 78 hits, 70 RBIs and 23 home runs.
Nicholson is likely to improve his 964-252 career record with Arizona State, so it’s not the success, but the faces, that will be difficult for the head coach to walk away from.
“The hard part of [leaving] is the people,” Nicholson said. “I actually think people understand what kind of opportunity this is, but I’ve had some great administrators to work with. I love my players and that’s what makes it hard to leave — the people and the relationships you’ve been able to build over the years.”
As he leaves the familiar faces of Ball State behind, Nicholson will find himself trying to learn those of Arizona’s talented roster.
The Sun Devils will return 11 upperclassmen next season, all of which Nicholson will look to for help in leadership.
“I think there are some challenges,” he said. “Just not knowing the kids, and kind of going in blind, but I think it’s one of those things you can overcome. You’ve got some people that have been there, so I think we’ll be in a good spot. We’ll just have to get everybody on the same page pretty quickly, and we’ll be in a good situation.”
The well-established program has seen just three head coaches in its 47-season history.
Each of those coaches finished their career with at least 400 wins. Clint Myers, who recently left the program to join Auburn, owns an .804 winning percentage — the best in program history.
As Nicholson moves forward in his career, he is thankful for those who helped him in his time with Ball State.
“I really want to thank Bill Scholl and President [Jo Ann] Gora for their support,” he said. “I feel like we did a lot to build that program but Tom [Collins] and Bill [Scholl] and Dr. Gora were a big part of being able to get to the point that the program is at now.”
