Nick Booker returned to UC Irvine in June of 2025 for his second stint as an assistant coach.
Booker first joined the Anteaters in 2010 as the Director of Operations and was promoted to assistant coach a season later. He was involved in the school's historic 2014-15 season when UC Irvine won the Big West Conference Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The Anteaters fell to the three-time national champion Louisville by just two points in an NCAA Second-Round game in Seattle. Booker played a part in UCI's then-school record 28 wins along with new marks in non-conference victories (15) and road wins (13). The 2015-16 team advanced to the championship game of the CollegeInsider.com (CIT) postseason tournament.
Before coming back to Irvine, Booker served two years as the head coach of Cal State San Marcos. He was just the third to be named to the helm of the Cougars where his teams were both competitive on the court and active in the community.
Prior to his promotion to head coach, Booker spent three seasons at UC San Diego (2020-23) where he helped the Tritons transition from NCAA Division II to Division I with a focus on recruiting, scout preparation, defensive emphasis, and served as a member of the UCSD diversity council.
On his way to San Diego, he served as the Associate Head Coach at Eastern Washington from 2017-2020 under Shantay Legans. While at EWU, the Eagles were the Big Sky regular season championship in 2019-20 with a school record 16 victories in conference action. After helping develop a pair of Big Sky Players of the Year in Bogdan Bliznyuk (2017-18) and Mason Pealting (2019-20), Booker was recognized as one of the top 50 impactful NCAA Division I assistant coaches in the nation by Silver Waves Media.
After his first seven-year stint at UC Irvine, Booker returned to Davidson College, his alma mater, where he served as the director of operations. He also spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Saddleback College. He was instrumental in helping recruit and develop several All-State players, and the team won the California Community College State Championship in 2009.
Booker graduated from Davidson College in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in history. He was a member of the Wildcats' team under the legendary Bob McKillop. He was a starter for the 2002 Southern Conference championship team that competed in the NCAA Tournament against Ohio State. In his time playing for the Wildcats, he was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and contributed to back-to-back regular-season conference championships in 2001 and 2002.
He earned his master's degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific in 2010.
The native of San Diego, Calif. has four children, Philip, Kaleb, Ella, and Madisyn.
