The first time you meet Nicole Ballou, you might not guess that she was a highly successful college basketball player. Listed at 5-foot-2 in her playing days, she was a player who combined determination and guile to stand out on the basketball court, ranking as one of the top players to come through the women's basketball program at New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Today, she applies many of the same qualities that guided her success as a player and student to her growing career as a coach, which began in 2003, as she moved smoothly from the court to the bench as an assistant at NJIT.
In 2002-03, she was the senior starting point guard and co-Most Valuable Player of a team that tied the existing record for most wins in program history (16).
In 2003, she graduated from NJIT as a dean's list student and moved directly into coaching. At the end of her second year as an assistant coach, the Highlanders had a new school record for wins (18) and had advanced beyond their conference tournament in postseason play for the first time.
A four-year starter at point guard and two-year captain, Nicole Ballou never missed a game and she completed her career as the all-time leader in games played (109), assists (396) and steals (193).
Her 12 assists in a game vs. Felician on January 15, 2002 also ranked as the school record until it was broken in February 2005 by Jackie McCaffrey (13 vs. Georgian Court).
The Staten Island, NY, native came to NJIT after a fine scholastic career at Notre Dame Academy, where she collected a slew of captaincies and MVP and sportsmanship awards, while starring in softball and cross country in addition to basketball.
Ballou was NJIT's New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Woman of the Year in 2002. She earned her bachelor's degree in management from NJIT in 2003 and is pursuing an MBA in operations management from New Jersey's Science & Technology University. She also assists the sports information office and coordinates the Junior Highlander Kids Club.
