UAlbany's David Nichols returns to basketball team

CaptionCloseAlbanyUniversity at Albany sophomore guard David Nichols returned to Albany on Tuesday morning and will be in uniform when the Great Danes play Hartford in an America East Conference Tournament quarterfinal game at SEFCU Arena on Wednesday night.The...

UAlbany's David Nichols returns to basketball team

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University at Albany sophomore guard David Nichols returned to Albany on Tuesday morning and will be in uniform when the Great Danes play Hartford in an America East Conference Tournament quarterfinal game at SEFCU Arena on Wednesday night.

The 6-foot Nichols, who leads the Great Danes in scoring (17.3 points per game), left the team Sunday morning. He returned home to Chicago to be with his family after learning his 24-year-old sister, Cecilia Coleman, had died.

Nichols scored 21 points in UAlbany's regular-season finale — an 80-62 win over Hartford — on Saturday night.

"David is doing as well as you would expect," UAlbany coach Will Brown said Tuesday. "He was in good spirits."

Nichols practiced with the Danes on Tuesday.

"This could be a much-needed escape for him," Brown said. "Our guys were excited to see him; he was excited to see him."

A memorial service for Coleman, who lost a long struggle with leukemia, is scheduled to be held Saturday in Chicago.

Brown said he has not talked to Nichols and his father, Donald, about the ceremony.

twilkin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5415 • @tjwilkin

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