Nick Patella is in his fifth season at the helm of the Senators Men's Basketball program in 2019-20.
Patella was named Head Men's Basketball Coach at Davis & Elkins College on September 28, 2015. He then went on to coach the Senators to a 12-17 mark, including a 5-7 record in conference play. The Senators performance was a key improvement after a 6-20, 2-12 mark in 2014-15.
In 2016-17, Patella to led the program to its second-best season in the last 36 years, which featured a third-place finish in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular season. Patella coached three All-Conference performers, including G-MAC Player of the Year Kevin Bracy Davis, All-Conference player Rickenjee Bellevue and All-Freshmen team award winner Donte Doleman.
Under Patella's guidance, a pair of Senators earned conference recognition in his first season of 2015-16. Guard Kevin Simpson was named the G-MAC Freshman of the Year and was a member of the G-MAC All-Conference First Team. Bracy-Davis also earned First Team All-Conference Honors.
The Elkins, W. Va. native, joined the D&E program after coaching at his high school alma mater, Elkins High School. Prior to that he served three years as Head Men's and Women's Golf coach at West Virginia Wesleyan College, as well as the college's Sports Information Director in 2013-14.
Patella was an invited walk-on who earned a scholarship at West Virginia University and played from 2002-2005 under one of the nation's top college basketball coaches, John Beilein, now head coach at the University of Michigan. Despite his playing career being cut short due to a series of concussions, Patella continued with the team throughout their best 2004-2005 Elite 8 season, shifting his focus to coaching and absorbing as much knowledge as he could from Beilein.
After graduating with a Multidisciplinary Studies degree in 2007 from WVU, Patella was an assistant for head coach Bill Lilly at West Virginia Wesleyan College. After spending three years at WVWC and earning his MBA degree, Patella shifted his coaching focus to AAU basketball with Halo Hoops in Wilmington, N.C. He spent four years with Halo helping youth basketball players achieve their goals of playing collegiate basketball.
Patella and his wife Ann Marie, reside in Elkins with their two sons, NJ and Noah.
