Coach Nicki McDaniel has been the Brevard High Lady Devils basketball coach since the 2024-25 season, as well as the distance learning and ISS coordinator.

After high school, McDaniel attended High Point University on a Division 1 basketball scholarship, then worked in the medical field for 10 years.

“I never thought I was going to touch a ball again,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel played center in high school for East Henderson High. Provided photo.

When her kids started playing, however, she started to realize that she missed the game. She began to call out what was wrong on the court, and when asked by other people if she was a coach, she said, “No.”

She was later offered a job to be a teacher assistant at Apple Valley Middle, and was then asked to fill in as a basketball coach.

When someone gifted her a VHS tape of her state championship game, she said it re-solidified her purpose, and she decided to give back by teaching girls the value of hard work.

Coaching a girls team was something she wasn’t quite familiar with since she had previously helped coach a boys team. When she sought guidance on how to approach an all-girls team, the best advice she said she was given was “coach what you know.” 

McDaniel spent one season coaching at Apple Valley Middle before she was offered a teacher assistant and head junior varsity girls basketball coach position at North Henderson High. She coached at North Henderson for three years before she applied to be the varsity girls coach at Brevard High.

“I was going to stop coaching last year, but someone told me about the job opportunity at Brevard High. I wanted to bring the culture back,” she said. “After my interview, they called me back a few days later and offered me the job.

“I want my team to be able to compete, to love something, and understand that they can build themselves through the experience,” she added.

The Brevard High Lady Devils play a home basketball game against Tuscola High on Jan. 5, 2026.

Throughout her coaching experience, she realized that what separates her from other coaches is that she reads between the lines of a player’s potential.

“Most coaches want to pick the most elite players; I want to teach them to be elite,” she said.

“My favorite part of coaching is not the wins, it is the ‘ah-ha!’ moment. When you see it in their face that they are finally understanding something. When they slow down enough to understand it, that ‘ah-ha!’ moment shifts their confidence,” McDaniel said.

“They play differently. Being able to see that everything clicks is just something that makes me proud.”

Besides basketball, McDaniel loves to cook and eat. She also enjoys watching her sons play sports. Her oldest is playing basketball at a junior college in Columbia, S.C., and her youngest is playing Division III football at Brevard College. She also likes to Netflix and chill, “enjoying life one day at a time.”

By Paula Garcia