Angus J. (Nick) Nicoson

(Sept. 30, 1919-May 23, 1982). Angus J. Nicoson was born in Clay County, Indiana. He served as head basketball coach at Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) from 1947 to 1976, taking the Greyhounds to a 483-279 record. He retired in 1977 as the seventh-most-winning college coach in history at that time.

After graduating from Ashboro High School in 1938, Nicoson captained Indiana Central to 16 consecutive wins and a ninth-place national ranking in 1942. He then coached basketball and taught physical education at Franklin Township High School (now Franklin Central) from 1942 to 1947. Named head basketball coach at Indiana Central in 1947, “Nick” also coached football, baseball, track, cross country, and tennis squads. He became the school’s athletic director in 1949.

After earning his Master’s degree from Indiana University in 1952, Nicoson served on U.S. Olympic, Pan American Games, International Federation, and Amateur Athletic Union basketball committees. A seven-time Hoosier College Conference and three-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) District 21 Coach of the Year, he was NAIA president from 1966-1967. Nicoson toured Europe and the Soviet Union as an assistant coach with the 1969 U.S. National Basketball Team, and he received the 1977 National Association of Basketball Coaches Honor Award.

From 1952 to 1965, and from 1969 to 1971, Nicoson coached the Indiana High School Boys’ Basketball All-Stars to a 19-12 record against their rivals from Kentucky. In 1977, he was inducted into both the Helms Foundation and Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. The University of Indianapolis renamed its physical education/basketball facility Nicoson Hall that same year.

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