It’s a long journey from shooting jump shots on a frozen farmyard in eastern North Dakota to the bright lights of major college basketball, a path not often traveled and an adventure beyond even the wildest childhood dreams of Nicole (Nikki) Scholl.
The Grandin, ND native and onetime Dragon is in her second season as head women’s basketball coach at NCAA Division I affiliate Binghamton University in upstate New York. Her ascension is the stuff of patience, hard work and a little luck. A rock solid, rural upbringing didn’t hurt, either.
“I’d like to say I took a big part in the farm, but I would be lying if I said that,” Scholl remembers. “At the time, the primary crop was sugar beets, and we raised beef cattle and pigs. I did help out a little bit, but more times than not, I grabbed my basketball and went outside so I could avoid doing some of the farm work.”
Her outdoor court was nothing special, just a patch of Midwest soil, but it became an incubator of dreams for a young girl.
“I had an outdoor hoop from the time I first remember picking up a basketball. My older brother (Kelly) played basketball, too, so we were always out in the driveway playing. He, of course, never let me beat him,” Scholl said.
“I played basketball since I was in first grade. Before Halstad and Hendrum joined together to become Norman County West, we were the Halstad Pirates. I remember in first grade they did basketball with the grades, first grade against second, third against fourth, fifth against sixth. What really happened was most of the boys played basketball, and the girls were cheerleaders. I didn’t want to be a cheerleader so I ended up playing with the boys.”
Scholl was a four-year letterwinner at Norman County West High School and scored 1,038 points in her career. She was voted Most Valuable Player as a sophomore and was twice named to the All-Northern Plains Conference team. Scholl was elected basketball captain as a senior and was an all-region selection.
She found time for more than basketball, however. She was a three-year starter in volleyball and served as captain and starting setter. Scholl also lettered in track and golf and was a member of the concert and jazz band.
For college options, Scholl had simply to look up and down the Red River Valley. She was recruited by Minnesota, Crookston and head coach Lori Ulferts, but those plans were scrapped when Ulferts accepted the head job at MSU Moorhead in 1989.
“I had originally committed to go to (Minnesota) Crookston, but when Lori got the job at Moorhead State, she asked me to go along with her so that’s how I ended up at MSUM.”
Scholl was a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter for the Dragons from 1989-1993 and earned all-conference, all-district and honorable mention Kodak All-America honors as a senior. ?
For nearly 20 seasons she owned a share of the MSUM single game record of six three-point field goals, set in 1989 against Minot State. Scholl built the finest lifetime free throw percentage of .885 in 1991-92 that still stands and ranks third in career three-point field goals, 129, and fifth in steals, 164.
Scholl has warm memories of her career with the Dragons. “I remember my teammates, playing cards on bus trips, and especially, the overall improvement of the program. My first two years we weren’t real successful, but my junior and senior years we had 20-plus win seasons,” Scholl said.
Scholl’s success has carried her to a much bigger basketball stage now, but she has no regrets of casting her lot with the Dragons.
“I wouldn’t change anything. I was happy playing so close to home, and I loved the fact that my parents (Harley and Bonnie) could come to all my games. I ended up having a very good experience at MSUM.”
“The one thing I wish I could have done is participated in the AAU programs that go on now, not necessarily to have exposure to go to a different school, but just to have that extra playing that went along with it.”
Scholl graduated cum laude from MSU Moorhead in 1994 with a degree in Physical Education and added a Master’s Degree from North Dakota State in 1999, where she also served as a physical education and health instructor.
Following graduation from MSUM, Scholl spent three years as the head girls’ basketball coach at Hastings High School where she led the Raiders to a Minnesota State Class AA State Championship and overall record of 64-14. In 1996, she was honored as the Region 3AA and Minnesota Class AA Coach of the Year.
“My second year (at Hastings) we won the state tournament. I was fortunate to come into a good program. The booster club had done a phenomenal job developing young kids who had been playing together since sixth grade, a lot of AAU stuff, and there was also a good nucleus of older kids.”
Scholl’s coaching portfolio also included a two-year stop at North Dakota State, where she helped lead the Bison to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances.
“They were looking for a graduate assistant, and I thought it was about time to make the move, because college is where I wanted to be and that was a good opportunity for me.”
“I was there two years,” Scholl said. “It was a whole new world for me, a lot different than teaching and coaching in high school. As a graduate assistant, you’re there to be an assistant to the head coach, and that was a different role for me. I learned a lot about the ins and outs of the daily stuff---film exchange, travel plans, recruiting and the on-the-floor (coaching).”
The 2009-10 campaign marks Scholl’s 11th year with the Bearcats. She was elevated to the head position on April 30, 2008 after serving as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator the previous three years, and assistant coach for seven seasons.??In her first season at the helm, Scholl guided a young squad picked to finish sixth in the America East Conference to fourth place and a berth in the America East semifinals. For the first time, the Bearcats landed two players on the America East All-Rookie Team, including a first-ever America East Rookie of the Year. ?
Scholl somehow seems startled by her success, but knows the bar has been raised.
“I always wanted to coach, even from a young age. I remember in high school helping out with the elementary kids, and in college Missy Narum and I ran a camp in the summertime back at my old high school. . . . Now I’m making a living at it.”
“It’s been a big adjustment after being an assistant for so long,” said Scholl. “It’s a different role with different responsibilities. I do have a great staff, and I really enjoy the players I work with, and that makes the job easier. In college coaching there is so much to do; one person can’t take care of it all.”
“When I got here, Binghamton was in the transition from (NCAA) division two to division one, and at onetime had actually been a division three school.
We recruit from all over the place; we have a lot of international players—Estonia, twins from Ireland, Athens, Greece and two players from Canada.”
“At this level, there is pressure to win, not that every coach doesn’t feel that, but here it’s more of a business. It’s all about recruiting good players and winning basketball games. That’s quite a bit different from the high school level.”
It’s a challenge, indeed, but one that Scholl is ready to take on, and lessons and values developed long ago on a small outdoor court will serve her well.
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