Murray State head men’s basketball coach Matt McMahon announced the hiring of Shane Nichols and Tim Kaine who will join the Racers as assistant coaches.
Nichols comes to MSU from Hofstra and Kaine from Georgia Southern.
“When putting together our staff, I wanted to hire high energy coaches who have high character and excel in both player development and recruiting,” McMahon said. “Most importantly to me, Shane Nichols and Tim Kaine will serve as great mentors for our student-athletes. They will be tremendous additions to our program and I am thrilled to welcome them to the Murray State family.”
Shane Nichols comes to Murray State after assisting at Hofstra coach Joe Mihalich for the last two seasons including a 20 win 2014-15 campaign. Nichols also assisted Mihalich in the 2012-13 season at Niagara. Prior to his move to Niagara, Nichols served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Wofford, where the Terriers advanced to the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
“I have been following Shane Nichols since coaching against him when he played at Wofford,” McMahon said. “As an assistant coach, he has quickly established himself as an outstanding recruiter and developer of talent. Shane has an impressive basketball background scoring nearly 1,500 points during his college career, and has since learned under two of college basketball’s top coaches in Mike Young at Wofford and Joe Mihalich at Hofstra. I’m extremely excited to welcome him to the Racer Nation.”
“I want to thank Coach McMahon for this opportunity,” Nichols said. “I’m very familiar with the Murray State program. The Nichols side of my family is all from Kentucky and I know the tradition that the MSU program has built. When the opportunity to come to Murray State and work for Coach McMahon came about, I was very excited about it. My thanks go to Coach McMahon. I’m looking forward to helping him. Thanks also to Coach Mihalich at Hofstra for all he’s done for me and the coach I played for at Wofford, Mike Young. Both of these men have positively influenced my life and are the reason I have the opportunity to come to Murray State.”
Nichols earned a degree in sociology from Wofford in 2008 where he was a three-year starter. He scored 1,482 points in his career and was a multiple All-Southern Conference selection.
Tim Kaine (pronounced cane) joins the Racers after serving as an assistant in the 2014-15 season at Georgia Southern where the Eagles had a 22-9 record. Kaine has carved out a career in college basketball which includes six seasons at Florida Atlantic. Prior to his time at Florida Atlantic, Kaine coached at Winthrop, Austin Peay, Newberry College and Guilford College.
“Tim Kaine brings 13 years of college experience to Murray State,” McMahon stated. “He is a well-respected coach who will work relentlessly on the recruiting trail and in the gym with our players. Tim has coached at every level and has been involved in every aspect of running a successful program. Our players will benefit from his energy and his commitment to their development, on and off the court. I’m very happy to have him join our coaching staff. On behalf of my family, we are very pleased to welcome Tim and Jenny, along with their daughter Tory, to the Murray community.”
“I’m very excited to be part of Murray State University and the tradition that Racer Basketball has,” Kaine said. “To be able to work for a rising head coach like Coach McMahon is exciting. I know my family and I are looking forward to getting there. I want to thank Coach Byington who has been good to me and my family at Georgia Southern. I learned a lot under Coach Mike Jarvis at FAU. He has been successful at many places and has helped a lot over the course of my career.”
Kaine graduated from Winthrop in 2002 with a degree in sports management. He earned a master’s degree in sport management from Austin Peay in 2003.
Before playing at Winthrop, Kaine’s playing career started at UT Martin where he played for Racer coaching legend Cal Luther.
