April 15, 2010
By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The last time that Brett Nelson left his home state of West Virginia for the Sunshine State, he developed into one of the best players in Florida history, helping the program advance to the Final Four as a freshman in 2000. He is hoping that his recent move to Florida is just as successful.
Nelson served as an assistant coach under current UCF head coach Donnie Jones for the last three years. Last week, Nelson, fellow assistants Shawn Finney and Darren Tillis, and director of operations Tim Thomas, left Marshall to join Jones in Orlando.
Because the Thundering Herd are members of Conference USA along with the Knights, Nelson already was familiar with UCF.
"Having played here the last three years, I knew about the great environment. Obviously facility-wise, it is terrific," he said. "It is just a job with so much potential. We are all very excited to be down here."
Nelson's ties to the state do not just stem from his days as a student-athlete in Gainesville. He spent plenty of time recruiting in Florida while he was at Marshall. "I was down here a lot," he said. "Our whole staff recruits all of our kids, but I came down here a whole lot. We do know the state really well. Over the last three years, we had a lot of kids from the state of Florida on our roster. I think we have a pretty good grasp of who is who in the state and what areas we need to really hit."
Nelson played at Florida from 1999-03, while Jones served as one of the program's assistant coaches. He ranks second all-time at Florida in career 3-pointers (274) and steals (199).
Despite the hectic nature of the last few weeks, Nelson is happy to be back in Florida and excited about helping the Knights achieve success.
"Orlando seems like a great place to live. Family-wise, there is a lot to do. It has been a whirlwind. We are trying to get to know our players, because that is the most important thing now. Of course we are recruiting. We are trying to get UCF out there."
The UCF ticket sales office is currently accepting season-ticket deposits for the 2010-11 campaign at (407) UCF-1000 or online at UCFAthletics.com. By placing their deposit now, fans will receive a free 2010-11 NIKE Knightmare t-shirt with their ticket purchase. Season tickets start at just $99.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.