<p>It would be one thing if Ben Nicoson’s surname graced the back of his game jerseys, but the University of Indianapolis men’s basketball team doesn’t dabble in such individualism.</p><p>Still, some people attending Greyhounds home games might be asking themselves if No. 4 in the game program and on the court is somehow related to the building.</p><p>The answer is yes.</p><p>Nicoson Hall, named after longtime Greyhounds coach Angus Nicoson, opened in January 1960 and 17 years later officially took on the name of the legend who coached then-Indiana Central University for just over 29 seasons and a total of 762 games. Angus Nicoson died in 1982 — or nearly two decades before the birth of his great-grandson Ben, currently a sophomore guard at UIndy.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>Reminders of Angus Nicoson’s numerous accomplishments are impossible to miss. The sign in front of the building says Nicoson Hall (it’s also on the brick surface in large lettering), and there’s a bronze portrait of Angus Nicoson in the arena’s west lobby that made its debut in 1991.</p><p>Ben Nicoson, a Center Grove graduate and a 4.0 student, could have attended college elsewhere. Started his own family legacy. Wabash College was among those that reached out to Nicoson, but UIndy didn’t just <em>feel</em> like home, it <em>was</em> home.</p><p>“I don’t think there was a desire to necessarily get away from it, but there wasn’t any pressure from my parents and grandparents to go to UIndy, and I always appreciated that,” Ben said. “I definitely wanted to play college basketball, and playing at UIndy was a dream of mine.</p><p>“I think I feel pride being in that gym and what effort I put in. Definitely as a family legacy as a whole and knowing how much effort I put in is what I’m going to get out. I think it would have been really interesting to have been able to meet my great-grandfather just because of the stories I’ve heard. From the pictures I’ve seen, he looks really similar to my grandfather.”</p><p>Angus started the family’s legacy as a football and basketball standout at Indiana Central before graduating in 1942. His son, Dan, quarterbacked the Greyhounds’ football squads in the mid- and late 1960s, and still holds the school record for the longest touchdown pass — 89 yards in a game against Manchester during the 1965 campaign.</p><p>Dan Nicoson later served as an assistant under former UIndy football coach Bill Bless. Brent Nicoson, Dan’s son and Ben’s father, played golf for the Greyhounds in the early 1990s and is now coaching both the men’s and women’s teams. He led the latter to Division II national championships in 2015 and 2018.</p><p>Between the two, Brent Nicoson has been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year a staggering 11 times.</p><p>It’s all a lot to follow, but Ben, who was attending UIndy home basketball games while in fourth grade, does so quietly, humbly and with pride. He is the first guard off the bench for the Greyhounds, counted on for his ability to run the offense at one end of the court and play his brand of airtight defense on the other.</p><p>Nicoson averaged 17.7 minutes of playing time in the team’s first three games this season, yet didn’t commit a turnover.</p><p>“Ben is very cerebral and remembers the tendencies of (opposing) players,” said first-year UIndy coach Paul Corsaro, whose knowledge of Nicoson Hall dates back to time there as both a player (2008-11) and assistant coach (2012-18). “On offense, he does a good job getting us in the right set.</p><p>“Ben is extremely unassuming. Just a hard worker, and the kind of kid you would never know that his great-grandfather is Angus Nicoson or that his father is Brent Nicoson. He has no sense of entitlement. Ben earns every ounce of playing time he gets and is on track to having a great career as a player here.”</p>
