Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach/Recruiting Director
- Email:
- floresn@wfu.edu
Nikki Flores joined the Demon Deacons women's basketball staff as an assistant coach ahead of the 2022-23 season. She also oversees all recruiting efforts for the program.
During Flores’ first season working with the program, the Deacs tied the most since the 2011-12 season, defeated four NCAA Tournament teams including wins over two Elite Eight teams and grabbed 12 wins at home, the fourth-highest total in program history.
Additionally with Flores leading the guards, Wake Forest finished second in program history with 227 threes made, increased the team’s assist percentage by nearly 20 percent and held ACC opponents at home to just 19.2 percent shooting from three.
Leading recruiting efforts, the Demon Deacons signed a top-25 recruiting class according to ESPNW during Flores’ first season on campus. This marks the first time since the 2014 class that the Deacs have signed multiple top-100 players in the same class and just the second time in the ESPNW era.
Tutoring guard Jewel Spear, she had one of the best scoring seasons by any player in program history, finishing the 2022-23 season with 546 points, the sixth-highest total by a Demon Deacon. En route to garnering All-ACC honors for the second-consecutive season, Spear had 11 20-plus point games including 30-plus points in wins over Coastal Carolina and Louisville.
Spear finished the season with the second-highest three-point total in program history, racking up 93 threes during the season.
Defensively in Flores’ first season, Wake Forest ranked in the top 70 nationally in points per game allowed and in the top 60 nationally in three-point defense.
Prior to Wake Forest
A native of Montvale, New Jersey, Flores came to Winston-Salem following a nine-year tenure with the American University women’s basketball team, where she worked alongside Gebbia.
Serving as the Eagles’ recruiting coordinator and assistant coach, she oversaw guard play and helped guide the team to an overall record of 160-106 (.602), including a 105-48 (.686) clip in Patriot League competition.
American won three conference championships while making appearances in the 2015, 2018 and 2022 NCAA tournaments and two additional WNIT appearances in 2014 and 2019.
Flores played a pivotal role in the development of several American University standouts including:
-
Emily Kinneston
-
2018 Patriot League Player of the Year
-
2018 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year
-
2018 NCAA Women of the Year nominee
-
-
Jen Dumiak
-
2015 Patriot League Player of the Year
-
2015 Patriot League Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
-
Two-time All-Patriot League selection
-
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) All-Star
-
2015 NCAA Women of the Year nominee
-
-
Shaquilla Curtis
-
2015 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year
-
-
Alexis Dobbs
-
2014 Patriot League Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year
-
2014 NCAA Women of the Year nominee
-
??NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient
-
2014 American University President's Award winner
-
Throughout her time at American, Flores mentored a total of two Patriot League Players of the Year, one Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, two ECAC All-Stars, seven All-Patriot League selections, four PL All-Defensive Team selections, three Patriot League Women's Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year and five Academic All-Patriot League selections.
Prior to her time in Washington, D.C., Flores spent a year at Colgate University, where she monitored recruiting, individual workouts and game film in the form of an assistant coach for the Raiders’ women’s basketball program.
Other institutional stops in her 14-year coaching career include Holy Family University (Philadelphia, PA) and Norwich University (Northfield, VT). At Holy Family, the team picked up three consecutive Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference titles and advanced to the NCAA Division II tournament in each of Flores’ seasons with the Tigers.
Flores was a standout on the women’s basketball team at Marist College for four seasons from 2004-08. As a first-year player, she earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) All-Rookie Team honors in 2005, later landing MAAC All-Academic and All-Tournament Team selections in three separate campaigns.
She helped the Red Foxes win four conference regular-season titles and three conference tournament titles, as her senior class tallied 102 career victories and a trio of NCAA Tournament appearances including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2007 and a trip to the Round of 32 in 2008.
As a senior, Flores was tabbed an All-MAAC second team pick, averaging 9.7 points and 3.2 assists in 35 appearances. She wrapped her career as the program leader in games played (128), second in career free throw percentage (.809), fifth in free throws made (305) and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.319), while producing 907 total points.
Flores graduated from Marist College in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in history and adolescent education.
