Darren Kohne was hired as an assistant men's basketball coach for the Nicholls State University men's basketball team in the fall of 2013 after spending a year with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the National Basketball Association Developmental League.
Kohne has more than a dozen years of coaching and personnel experience in basketball, on both the collegiate and professional levels.
During his one-year stint with the Skyforce, Kohne was the top assistant to head coach Joel Abelson, as the NBA D-League affiliate of the back-to-back world champion Miami Heat marked a 10-win improvement from the previous season. Sioux Falls won as many games last season than in the two previous seasons before, as the squad had a total of 11 current or former NBA players on the roster that year.
Along with assisting in personnel and roster decisions, he was the offensive coordinator for games and practice, while managing the finances. Kohne prepared scouting materials on opponents and potential players for the draft.
Prior to his time in South Dakota, Kohne spent six years as a staffer at Central Michigan University, as the Chippewas earned consecutive Mid-American Conference West Division Championships in 2009 and 2010, as four of their recruiting classes were ranked No. 1 by hoopsonline.com in the MAC. During his six-year stint, Kohne was the recruiting coordinator, hired and oversaw the director of operations, video coordinator, graduate assistants and undergraduate managers, along with preparing scouting reports on opponents for the coaching staff.
Outside of the gym, he also served as the academic coach, monitoring players academically through study hall and personal mentoring, as well as coordinating all community involvement events and public engagements.
Kohne is familiar with Nicholls and the Southland Conference as he spent three years on Danny Kaspar's staff at Stephen F. Austin from 2003-06. In that time, SFA had the nation's longest home winning streak at 31 games, while the Lumberjacks were the runners-up in the 2003-04 season with a 21-8 overall record. Many of his duties included acting as the travel coordinator, ordering and dispensing all team equipment, as well as serving as a professor in the kinesiology department.
With the Jacks, he helped coach and recruit all-conference players in Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley, who both went on to rank in the top five all-time in scoring and rebounding in Stephen F. Austin history. The Lumberjacks would also have wins over Big 12's Baylor University and Conference USA's Tulsa.
As an undergrad, Kohne began his collegiate playing career as a freshman shooting guard for the Benedictine University Eagles of Division III. His team finished 19-7 overall that year and received a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Kohne would end up getting his bachelors degree from the University of Toledo in 2000, and his master's degree in 2003, both in business. While earning his degrees, he worked in various roles both on the high school and collegiate level, while serving as head coach of an AAU program in Toledo.
Kohne resides in Thibodaux.
