Nick Matson - Men's Basketball Coach - East Carolina University Athletics

Nick Matson

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
matsonn26@ecu.edu

Nick Matson was named associate head coach for the East Carolina Men's Basketball team on April 17, 2026.

Matson returns to Greenville after assistant coaching stops at the University of Texas and New Mexico State. He helped guide the Aggies to a 16-16 mark and a quarterfinal appearance in the CUSA Basketball Championship in 2025-26 as an assistant coach.

During his two seasons on staff at Texas, Matson helped the Longhorns advance to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances under Head Coach Rodney Terry in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. During the 2023-24 campaign, Texas ranked among the nation's elite in both offensive and defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. While in Austin, Matson worked with future NBA players Tre Johnson, Jayson Kent, and Max Abmas. During the 2023-24 season, Texas posted a 21-13 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. With its victory over Colorado State in the NCAA Round of 64, the Longhorns won their NCAA First Round game for the third consecutive season. This marked the first time Texas has accomplished the feat since UT won four-straight NCAA First-Round games from 2006-09.

“We are excited and fortunate to have Nick Matson back with us here in Greenville,” head coach Michael Schwartz said. “He is a true professional in this profession, with winning experience at every level of college basketball. Nick helped us establish all phases of our program four years ago and was essential in building our defense along with the skill development of our players”.

UT finished at No. 25 in the final KenPom team rankings, recorded five Quad 1 wins and earned three victories against AP-ranked opponents, including a 75-73 home win over No. 9 Baylor, a 75-60 victory at No. 11 Oklahoma and a 77-66 win at No. 25 TCU. The Longhorns were one of 11 teams to rank in the top 31 in KenPom in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.
Dylan Disu was named the Big 12’s Most Improved Player, becoming the first Texas player to claim the honor since it began during the 2019-20 season, and earned first-team All-Big 12 mention from the coaches. Max Abmas garnered a spot on the first-team All-Big 12 team from the media and the five-person Big 12 All-Newcomer Team. In addition, Abmas was named the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Division I Men’s Basketball Team Member of the Year, while Disu was named the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Prior to his two years at Texas, Matson spent the 2022-23 season as an assistant coach at East Carolina in Michael Schwartz’s first season at the helm. The Pirates posted a 16-17 overall record (6-12 American). The 16 wins marked the most by East Carolina in nearly a decade (2013-14), while the six league wins tied for the most since the Pirates joined the American Conference prior to the start of the 2014-15 season.

Prior to ECU, Matson spent three seasons as an assistant coach at UTEP where he assisted in the rebuilding of a Miners program which saw continuous improvement over three years. During the 2019-20 campaign the Miners won 17 games, nine more than the previous season and the largest win improvement of any team in CUSA; more than doubling their CUSA win total. UTEP posted its first winning season in four years and made a return to the CUSA Tournament. The Miners finished with a 13-4 record in the Haskins Center - the most home wins in four years. At UTEP, Matson aided in the development of two of the most successful players in CUSA, Bryson Williams and Souley Boum. Both student-athletes were All-CUSA selections for multiple years.

Matson came to UTEP after seven seasons (2011-18) at Fresno State, most recently as an assistant coach. The Bulldogs logged 20 wins or more in four of the last five seasons, won the Mountain West Conference title in 2016 and made three postseason tournament appearances (2014 CBI, 2016 NCAA, 2017 NIT). From 2015-2018, the Bulldogs were one of the most successful Group of 5 Basketball programs in the country, earning an NCAA Tournament berth in 2016 and an NIT at-large selection in 2017.

Matson played an extensive role in the Bulldogs' player development and scouting. Fresno State had multiple All-Conference selections, including 2015-16 Mountain West Player of the Year Marvelle Harris. During the 2017-18 season, guard Deshon Taylor garnered first team All-MWC honors after averaging 17.8 points per game. Forward Bryson Williams was a third team All-MWC selection. Sam Bittner and Jahmel Taylor were among the MWC and national leaders in three-point shooting during the 2017-18 season.

Prior to being elevated to assistant coach, Matson spent five years as Director of Basketball Operations and one season as graduate assistant at Fresno State.

Matson spent the 2010-11 season as the graduate assistant at Murray State under head coach Billy Kennedy. The Racers finished 23-9, won the Ohio Valley Conference Championship, finishing 14-4 in league play. Matson assisted with video, scouting and player development at Murray State, working with All-American guard and future NBA player Isaiah Canaan.

Matson began his career as a coaching intern at Stanford under Johnny Dawkins during the 2009-10 season.

Matson received his degree in psychology from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in 2009. He was a walk on for the Keydets from 2006-08 under Duggar Baucom. VMI employed an up-tempo offense that set all-time NCAA records for points per game, steals, and three-pointers made in a season. In 2008-09, Matson served as undergraduate assistant coach in of one of the most successful seasons in VMI history. The Keydets finished 24-8, including an upset victory over Kentucky at Rupp Arena. The Keydets advanced to the 2007 and 2009 Big South Conference Championship games.