Brett Nelson (born October 22, 1980) is an American college basketball coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach at UMass under head coach Frank Martin.

Playing career

A 1999 McDonald's All-American, Nelson was a standout at Saint Albans High School in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

and was the state's player of the year his senior season. Nelson would play college basketball at

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

under

Billy Donovan William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He has served as head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since September 2020 after previously coa ...

where he was a three-year starter and member of the Gators' 2000 NCAA tournament runner-up squad. He ended his career as a two-time All- SEC selection as well as the school's leader in three-pointers made and attempted. At the time of his graduation, Nelson finished with career averages of 11.0 points per game and ranked second in steals and fourteenth in points scored in school history.

Coaching career

Nelson would briefly play professional basketball overseas in Sweden, but left to pursue a career as director of basketball operations at

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

and then at VCU for a season each from 2005 to 2007. His first assistant coaching position was under

Donnie Jones Donald Scott Jones Jr. (born July 5, 1980) is a former American football punter. He played college football for Louisiana State University and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He also played for t ...

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

, who was an assistant at Florida during Nelson's playing days. After three years with the Thundering Herd, Nelson had a one-year stop as an assistant at

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

under another former Florida assistant,

John Pelphrey John Leslie Pelphrey (born July 18, 1968) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. After being named Kentucky Mr. Basketball in 1987, he became a star college player at the University ...

, before a two-year stint at

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

. After one year as an assistant at

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, industrialists and founders of the Ball C ...

, Nelson joined the staff at Marquette in 2014, where he was on staff for two Golden Eagles NCAA Tournament squads. On July 9, 2019 Nelson was named the 18th head coach in Holy Cross history, replacing the retiring

Bill Carmody William D. Carmody (born December 4, 1951) is a retired American men's college basketball coach, formerly the head coach at the College of the Holy Cross. He was the head coach of the Wildcats men's basketball team at Northwestern University f ...

. In his first year as head coach, Nelson led a rebuilding Crusaders team to a record of 3-29, with his first victory as a head coach coming on December 2, 2019 against

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader ...

. On March 10, 2023, it was announced that Nelson would not return, after 4 seasons. On May 31, 2023, UMass head coach Frank Martin announced the hiring of Nelson as an assistant coach on his staff.https://umassathletics.com/news/2023/5/31/mens-basketball-mens-basketball-hires-nelson-as-assistant-coach

Head coaching record

References

1980 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball coaches Ball State Cardinals men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from West Virginia Basketball players from West Virginia Drake Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Florida Gators men's basketball players Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball coaches Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball coaches Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball coaches McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from St. Albans, West Virginia {{US-basketball-coach-stub