Nichols’ unordinary path, and why she’ll enter Delta history as extraordinary

After officially concluding her prep basketball career last week, Addison Nichols added one more feather to her hat over the weekend as the season drew to a close.

With the release of the Scott-Mississippi All-Conference team, Nichols took center stage as the Scott-Mississippi Player of the Year as voted on by league officials.

Standing alongside teammates Presley Holweg, Mya Gillespie and Jade Berry, with Grace Ancell entering as an honorable mention, the Ladycats were well-represented on the list.

But for the senior shooting guard who led all players in scoring average at the MSHSAA Show-Me Showdown, it marked one of the last large accolades of her career.

A career that took a rather unorthodox route.

There’s plenty to talk about with Addie Nichols. From her 21.5 points per game as a senior to her 40 percent clip from the 3-point line, she became one of the most feared athletes around this past year.

As many know, however, it wasn’t always sunshine and roses for the superstar Delta guard.

Before she became one of the best scorers in Southeast Missouri, before becoming an all-state guard or leading the Ladycats to new heights as an upperclassman, she was an Eagle.

“I'm from Oran,” Nichols began, fighting through tears following Delta’s 64-55 loss to Cairo on Wednesday, Mar. 6 in the state semifinals.

Nichols played her full junior high career in Oran, where she would frequently clash with Delta on the hardwood as enemies, not as friends.

Those clashes built feuds, including one with the young, hard-nosed Presley Holweg, who stood out as one of Delta’s top players when they matched up.

When asked about it, with Holweg sitting two seats to her left, Nichols proclaimed, “We beat them in the seventh-grade conference championship!”

The MSHSAA-organized press conference burst into laughter.

“And we beat you in eighth grade by 30!” Ladycats coach David Heeb laughingly responded.

In that game that Heeb mentioned, he noted that Trinity Vandeven, a fellow Ladycat senior, held Nichols to just two points in that eighth-grade matchup.

There was a brooding rivalry between Nichols and both Holweg and Vandeven, especially within the communities of Oran and Delta as they traded blows as programs.

The 2024 Delta senior class, excluding Mya Gillespie, had known each other since middle school – and a lot of that connection was initially built on hostility.

“I played against Presley in my conference championship throughout junior high for three years straight,” Nichols said.

“We hated each other.”

The two small-school powers were headed on a collision course as both were competing for power in 2020, but a wild card presented itself soon after.

Entering high school, something had to give. She made one of the toughest, but perhaps the most rewarding decisions of her career: leaving Oran behind.

“No one cared about the girls team,” Nichols claimed.

“Joe Shoemaker was an amazing coach, but the girls were always on the back burner. It was always about boys sports, and no one really understood how hard it was to be a girl athlete.”

She made the tough decision to transfer to Delta High School, 20 minutes from home and chock full of enemies she’d made over the past three years.

But instead of animosity, she was quickly brought in and basically born anew as a Bobcat despite all the fighting and rivalry she’d encountered in yesteryear.

“When I transferred to Delta, it was the complete opposite,” Nichols said.

“Everybody's rooting for everybody. Whether you play cross country, or track, or whatever. Everyone is your biggest fan.”

That decision paid off nicely as Oran folded its girls team this year, and all the while, Delta became a state powerhouse.

Nichols had a role in Delta’s run to the final four in 2022 – its first since 2008 – and became the leading scorer for the 2024 Delta Ladycats as they went 30-2 to claim a bronze medal.

That Delta community welcomed her with open arms as she continued to build her legacy in Bobcat Blue.

“No matter my last name, no matter who my dad was, they were rooting for me,” Nichols said.

“The community at Delta is just amazing, and I will say that until the day I die.”

She became one of the most renowned players in Delta history, with the new-look Ladycats and Heeb storming back to prominence.

Nichols finished her Delta career with 1,820 points, 701 rebounds, 343 assists and 353 steals, according to team statistics.

In addition to this, as Heeb noted, is that Nichols’ 268 career 3-pointers at Delta places her 15th all-time in the history of MSHSAA girls basketball.

“Addie is one of the hardest-working kids I’ve ever coached, and she’s one of the very best students I’ve ever coached,” Heeb said.

One of the biggest factors in that decision four years ago was her dad’s hiring at Delta.

Chris Nichols donned hats as a coach and teacher within the Delta district, along with running the high school’s rootEd program designed to help rural students go to college.

Furthermore, Chris landed a job as an assistant coach for those Delta Ladycats, and that was an opportunity too good to pass up for Addie as she ascended to the high school ranks.

As her coach, however, there was often some friction in the Nichols household as the two learned how to gel in their new dynamic.

“She is a “type A+” personality, a perfectionist,” Heeb said of Addie. “She gets that from her dad. He pushes her so hard, but he’s also her biggest fan.”

“I can't count how many nights her freshman and sophomore years, he would be so hard on her that the game was over and she's crying, and she's upset.

“I would always tell Addie: ‘There are two reasons you're such a good ballplayer. One is you worked so hard. You’ve made yourself a great player. Two is your dad,’ because he's the one that's pushed her this far.”

It wasn’t always easy, with Chris giving many “butt-chewings,” as Addie called them, but that dynamic saw her emerge as one of the top players in the region because of it.

They learned how to celebrate her accomplishments on the hardwood, building a bond as tough as nails and creating constant feedback for her to get better.

“She’s an overachiever,” Heeb said. “She tries her hardest no matter what she’s doing, and that all comes from her dad.”

When asked about it in Columbia, Addie had to collect herself for a moment as she called back four years of highs and lows in her career.

“He gets the credit for all of it,” Nichols said.

“I don't know how many times he's pushed me and pushed me. He's given me everything; determination and confidence. All of it goes back to him.”

Over their four years together at Delta, the Nichols duo went 103-14, winning four district championships and two trips to the final four.

When the Delta Ladycats were standing in the post-game lines following the third-place game, Heeb went player-to-player, in numerical order, giving the girls their bronze medals.

Each player got a hug from Heeb following their emotional finish to a season, marking the end of a long and prosperous year.

But when Heeb decorated Addie with her medal, he took a step back – and let Chris do the job instead, marking a poetic end to an illustrious career together.

Though it didn’t culminate in a state championship, the two left a lasting impact on Delta High School together and became a shining beacon of that Bobcat spirit.

No matter where Addie takes her next steps, whether it be playing basketball at the college level or into her future, Heeb knows that it’ll be a fruitful one.

Recalling the impression they left on the program, the veteran Ladycats coach wrapped up his testimony on the tandem with a heartfelt affirmation.

“It's been a blessing for me, too.”