Nicole Powell is returning home to Arizona where her basketball career began.
On Tuesday, Grand Canyon University announced is hiring of Powell, who spent three years on Oregon head coach Kelly Graves’ staff. GCU marks Powell’s first head coaching job.
“Nicole is one of the brightest young coaching stars in our business and I have no doubt that she will have Grand Canyon competing for conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances very soon,” Graves said in a release. “Nicole has an infectious personality and a tireless work ethic that will draw both high-level recruits and community support to her program.”

Welcome home, @NPowell_GCU! https://t.co/w4GqthvAVy pic.twitter.com/Wf6q0HSvF8
— GCU Lopes (@GCU_Lopes) April 11, 2017

Powell grew up in Sierra Vista, Arizona, and attended Mountain Pointe High School. There, she was twice named the state’s player of the year before heading to Stanford. After her time in Palo Alto, she spent 11 seasons in the WNBA. She took her first assistant coaching job at Gonzaga under Graves then moved to Eugene when he was hired in 2014.
“I cannot wait to get on the road and share what we’ve got going on here with recruits and their families,” Powell said in a release. “This is a special place, and I know we are going to attract talented, high character student-athletes who want to win championships, but also have a strong desire to serve others.”
Oregon signed the No. 3-ranked recruiting class in 2016 and made it to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight before falling to UConn during the 2016-17 season. The Ducks finished the year ranked No. 16 in the coaches’ poll.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne