Florida basketball coach Mike White adds Jordan Mincy, Darris Nichols, Kyle Church to staff

New Florida Gators head basketball coach Michael White has decided to take three Louisiana Tech staffers – two assistants – with him to Gainesville, Florida.

Assistants Jordan Mincy, 28, and Darris Nichols, 28, have joined White’s staff as assistant coaches. White also hopes to bring his another Bulldogs assistant, Dusty May, with him to the Gators but will wait to find out whether May is tabbed as his replacement for the top spot at Louisiana Tech.

A Memphis, Tennessee, native, Mincy played four years at Kent State and set the MAC record for most games played (135) at the time of his graduation. His first job out of college came as a graduate assistant at South Carolina, but he quickly returned to Kent State and spent two seasons (2010-12) at his alma mater as an assistant. Mincy then moved over to College of Charleston (2012-13) and Toledo (2013-14) before joining White’s LA Tech staff for the last season (2014-15).

“Jordan is a really talented coach, mentor, and recruiter,” said White during Mincy’s LA Tech introduction. “I’ve known him since his high school playing days and have followed his extremely successful career very closely. All he has ever done throughout, both playing and coaching, is win. He also has an innate ability to connect with people which will serve our players well.”

A college guard just like White and Mincy, Nichols had a solid career at West Virginia (2004-08), averaging 10.8 points and nearly four assists in 34.7 minutes per game over his final two seasons while playing under John Beilein and Bob Huggins. Nichols helped lead the Mountaineers to the 2007 NIT Championship, 2006 Sweet 16 and 2005 Elite Eight. After a short stint overseas, he worked as a graduate assistant at WVU under Huggins.

From there, he worked as an assistant at Northern Kentucky (2011-13) and Wofford (2013-14) before joining White’s Louisiana Tech staff this past season at the suggestion of Andy Kennedy, the Ole Miss head coach and former Cincinnati assistant under Huggins.

“Darris is a very talented young coach with a tremendous future ahead of him,” said White during Nichols’s LA Tech introduction. “We are fortunate to have him join our program on his journey to become a head coach one day. He was an excellent player in a great league, and he’s been able to draw on those experiences to help West Virginia, Northern Kentucky, and Wofford have great success.”

White was forced to hire both Mincy and Nichols last year to fill two vacant spots on his coaching staff. When initially hired by Louisiana Tech, he retained May, who was already on staff and promoted to associate head coach.

May has spent six seasons with the Bulldogs. His prior experience included stops as an undergraduate student manager and staff member (2002-05) his alma mater Indiana, and assistant coach at Eastern Michigan (2004-05), Murray State (2006-07) and UAB (2007-09).

White has also named Kyle Church his director of basketball operations.

A Charlotte, North Carolina, native who worked as an assistant coach at Chipola College and graduate assistant at Ole Miss and Louisiana Tech, Church, 26, was promoted by White to director of basketball operations for the Bulldogs over the last two seasons.

White was officially introduced at Florida on Monday.