Missouri Western State University Women's Basketball

Luke Scheidecker, a native of Smithville, Missouri, and the 11th head coach in MWSU history, comes to St. Joseph after a historic stint at Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Illinois, where he amassed a career record of 231-22 (.913 winning percentage) from 2016-18 and again from 2020-2025, while serving double duty as the school's director of athletics. Scheidecker, the 2024 WBCA Two-Year National Coach of the Year, has received numerous accolades, including six NJCAA Region 24 Coach of the Year awards and six Midwest District Coach of the Year honors at WVC. He's also been named the Illinois Basketball Coaches' Association College Coach of the Year five times.   Under his leadership, Wabash Valley College has made six appearances in the National Tournament and have won six Great Rivers Athletic Conference Championships.  Scheidecker has successfully signed over 35 players to NCAA Division 1 programs and has coached 10 NJCAA All-Americans.   Before his second run at WVC, Scheidecker was on staff at Indiana State (2018-20), serving as Recruiting Coordinator and helping to secure the top-ranked recruiting class in the Missouri Valley Conference.    In his first head coaching stint at Shawnee Community College (2015-16), Scheidecker orchestrated one of the fastest turnarounds in NJCAA history, leading the team from zero wins the previous season to a 30-3 campaign. That earned him multiple honors, including Coach of the Year and the school's first-ever NJCAA Division 1 ranking.   During his time as the Assistant Director of Basketball Operations at Southern Illinois University (2012-14), Scheidecker managed all team travel logistics, including financial oversight, mentoring student-athletes and organizing community events.   Scheidecker also served as the Director of Men's Basketball Operations at Southeast Missouri State (2011-12), where he obtained his Bachelor's Degree. Scheidecker completed his Master's in education at Southern Illinois in 2014.   Scheidecker's wife, Tori, was a Missouri Western Women's Basketball Graduate Assistant from 2019-2021. She was also a standout player at Butler University, earning All-Big East honors three times. They have two children - nine-year-old son, Cade, and six-year-old daughter, Brynn.   The Scheidecker File 2024-2025: 31-3 – Wabash Valley College 2023-2024:  29-3 (NJCAA  Final Four) - Wabash Valley College 2022-2023:  31-2 - Wabash Valley College 2021-2022:  28-2 - Wabash Valley College 2020-2021:  21-4 (Covid) - Wabash Valley College 2019-2020:  Assistant at Indiana St. 2018-2019:  Assistant at Indiana St.  2017-2018:  30-3 - Wabash Valley College 2016-2017:  31-2  - Wabash Valley College 2015-2016:  30-3 -  Shawnee Community College

Nelson will officially join the Griffon coaching staff in May 2025. She just concluded a highly decorated playing career, spending four seasons at Central Missouri before becoming a first team All-Big Sky Conference player at Idaho this past season. Nelson had a remarkable career at Central Missouri under former Missouri Western head coach and Hall of Famer Dave Slifer. In four years at UCM, Nelson averaged 13.4 points per game, shooting 561-for-1183 (47.4%) from the field over 117 starts. Nelson was a two-time All-MIAA Second Team selection, she was named to the MIAA All-Defensive Team and received an All-MIAA Honorable Mention nod as well. After her time at UCM, Nelson finished her college career at Division I University of Idaho under head coach Carrie Eighmey. Nelson was honored as the unanimous Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year and secured a spot on the Big Sky First Team. Nelson started all 30 games for the Vandals in 2024-25, averaging 14.4 points per game with a shooting percentage of 41.9% (153-for-365). She joined the prestigious 2,000-point club in her final collegiate game against Montana in the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Nelson, a Liberty, Missouri native, obtained her master's degree in chemistry from Idaho in 2025, following the completion of her bachelor's degrees in chemistry and secondary education from Central Missouri in 2024.  

Darvin Gill joined Missouri Western in April 2025 after spending the last two years as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), where he helped lead his team to a single-season record 28 wins this past season and an appearance in the Chipotle Nationals championship game. Gill brings more than 20 years of coaching experience in all, with assistant stops at The Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tenn.), NCAA Division II Christian Brothers University (Memphis, Tenn.), White County High School (Sparta, Tenn.), Cannon County High School (Woodbury, Tenn.) and DeKalb County High School (Smithville, Tenn.). A Smithville, Tennessee native, Gill worked at the Division I level at his alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University, serving as Video/Advance Scout Coordinator from 2019-21. He was part of a women’s basketball team that won both the Conference USA regular season and conference championship in 2021. Gill was previously head coach with the Tennessee Flight – an elite travel program within the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) – from 2013-2019, while also serving as head women’s basketball coach at Rhea County High School (Evensville, Tenn.) from 2016-19. Gill was named as a Basketball Coaches Association of Tennessee (BCAT) East All-Stars Head Coach in 2019. He’s a member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), and earned Conference and District Coach of the Year honors in 2017 and 2018.