Collier Named Head Women’s Basketball Coach at SFCC

State Fair Community College has named Nicole Collier as the next Head Women's Basketball Coach for the upcoming academic year.

Collier brings 20 years of experience at the Division I, Division II, and junior college levels as a student-athlete, assistant coach, and head coach to her new position.

"I am familiar with State Fair," said Collier. "I've been around the region and know Coach Pannier (SFCC Athletic Director) really well. I think he is a great person to work for. Sedalia is a great location and SFCC is a phenomenal college."

Collier comes to Sedalia from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale (SIUC), where she served as the assistant coach and active in that program's recruiting, scouting (of opponents), game planning, scheduling, strength and conditioning, and academics for five years.

Collier's success at SIUC extended off the court and into the classroom, where in 2018-2019 Collier's squad finished 11th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top-25 Honor Roll, the highest in that program's history.

During the 2017-2018 season, SIUC earned the number four seed in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament advancing to the semifinal round, while maintaining a team grade point average of 3.34.

In the 2016-2017 season, Collier helped her team to a 16-15 record and a post season appearance for the second straight season. Southern Illinois also earned inclusion in the WBCA's Top-25 Honor Roll at number 22 with a 3.51 grade point average.

Collier served as the head coach for four years at Lincoln University in Jefferson City. Collier helped her team to two Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament appearances and led Lincoln to a pair of double-digit win totals. Seven of her student-athletes earned All-MIAA honors and 19 of her student-athletes earned MIAA Academic Honor Roll recognition.

Collier also served as an assistant coach at Lincoln prior to her time as the head coach. Lincoln had two seasons with 12 or more wins during that time, including 15 wins during the 2012-2013 season, which was the second most in a single season in program history.

Prior to Lincoln, Collier served as an assistant coach at Central Missouri from 2004 to 2009. She helped lead her team to a pair of NCAA Regional appearances and five straight 14 or more-win seasons. The Jennies made the conference tournament each season.

Collier began her career as a student-athlete at Jefferson College, where she was a two-time All-American and the first student-athlete to be inducted into the Jefferson College Hall of Fame. Collier transferred to Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, where she led her team to an MIAA title in 2002 and earned both all-conference and all-region honors. She was later inducted into the Missouri Western State University Hall of Fame.

Coach Collier expects her team to play hard on both ends of the floor.

"We want to be a team that gets up and down the floor in transition," said Collier. "We want to push the ball but, we also want to make sure we take care of the basketball. We want to get out and guard people and create some havoc on the defensive end of the floor."

Collier has an Associate's degree from Jefferson College, an undergraduate degree in Physical Education from Missouri Western State University, and a master's degree in Exercise Science and Sport Administration the University of Central Missouri.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity at SFCC," said Collier. "I want to thank Dr. Anderson, Dr. Bates, and Coach Pannier for embracing my vision for the program. State Fair traditionally has had a lot of success in women's basketball, and I want to hit the ground running and make this program fun to watch."

--David Rohrbach, SFCC Athletics