Gonzaga assistant coach shifts into new leadership role

Originally posted on Gonzaga Bulldogs on SI
By Cole Forsman | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 11:04 AM ET

Around this time a year ago, Mike Nilson approached the higher-ups within the Gonzaga Athletic Department to let them know that the 2024-25 season would be his last as director of performance and nutrition.

The news was met with congratulatory send-offs, some sad goodbyes and plenty of sorrows — especially from his family.

"There was a lot of tears when I first told my wife," Nilson said. "I told my younger son, Memphis that I was leaving Gonzaga, and he cried."

Nilson had spent his entire adult life in Spokane, forming tightly-knit bonds with several colleagues and players over the past two decades as a coach and player. Nilson suited up for the Zags men's basketball team from 1996-2000, earning WCC Defensive Player of the Year and all-academic team honors while helping Gonzaga to the Elite Eight (1999) and the Sweet 16 (2000).

Once his playing career wrapped up with a stint overseas, Nilson returned to the Spokane area with the same passion for strength and conditioning. He helped found the U-District Physical Therapy, a local clinic specializing in functional physical therapy, mental health counseling and sports psychology, and took on a role within Gonzaga's athletic department as director of performance and nutrition in 2004.

Like other Gonzaga standouts, Nilson found it difficult to leave the Inland Northwest after acclimating so many years ago.

"I knew that I couldn't leave for good and I couldn't leave in a full capacity," Nilson said.

And so, after working with the athletic department on a solution, Nilson's next chapter will still involve working with and educating Gonzaga basketball players — it just won't require as much time in the weight room. Instead, Nilson will serve as a financial advisor, helping Bulldogs student-athletes navigate the world of NIL with advice and guidance as college sports shift toward a new era of revenue-sharing and schools directly paying their players.

"Most of the beautiful, great things in my life came from Gonzaga, and so the idea of stepping out the doors and not coming back was not an option," Nilson said. "The only way I was going to transition into my new role as a financial advisor was if I still could be in some kind of capacity around the athletic department, around the athletes, around the coaches, because they just make my life so much better."