Before No. 17 Florida's home basketball game against No. 15 Kentucky last Saturday, the Gators broke out a neat hologram on-court presentation at what they call the O'Dome.
It was projected onto the floor before player introductions, before the hosts went on to beat the Wildcats, wowing a packed house.
Standing there, in the middle of the action, was former WVU point guard Darris Nichols. The former Mountaineer, you might know, is an assistant to Florida head coach Mike White. And that moment could have been a symbolic one.
You see, UF's basketball program is projected to again rise. And it's the same with Nichols' career.
When Nichols rose from his bed on Tuesday in Athens, Georgia, the Gators were 18-5 overall and 8-2 in Southeastern Conference play. Prior to the away game against the Bulldogs, they had won four games in a row to move into second place in the SEC, along with Kentucky, to South Carolina.
But first, Darris, about that hologram deal ...
"Oh," he said with a chuckle. "We rented [the system] from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now there are talks about just buying one and having it full-time. The fans' reaction to it was great. It really created a big-time atmosphere."
Google it if you have time. But White, Nichols - and soon Ripley native Chase Johnson - are trying to create a big-time atmosphere on a consistent basis in Gainesville.
"With us coming in last year, the biggest thing was establishing a relationship with these guys," Nichols said. "I think they trust us and we trust them now a little bit more. They're playing a lot harder and they're playing as a team.
"Our biggest asset is our depth. There's really no drop-off. Last year, we really didn't have that. We relied on Dorian Finney-Smith [who averaged 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds] for everything. Now, the other team can't key in on just one guy."
Indeed, the Gators have been making noise. Before the Georgia game, Florida had been on a roll, including a 32-point drubbing of Oklahoma in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge. The win over Kentucky was on the resume. And even most of the losses weren't bad. The Gators lost by five points to No. 1 Gonzaga. They lost by 10 to No. 18 Duke, by five to No. 14 Florida State and by four to No. 19 South Carolina.
The shining moment, however, was beating Kentucky.
"It meant a lot," Nichols said. "It was good for us. It meant a lot to our fans. There's a history of a Florida-Kentucky rivalry way before we got here, so for them it was huge."
The centerpiece of this piece, though, is Nichols and Johnson.
First, the coach. After finishing his career playing at WVU, Nichols served as a graduate assistant to Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins, landed assistant coaching positions at Northern Kentucky and Wofford and then hooked up with White at Louisiana Tech.
"Going from a player to a coach was a learning experience," Nichols said. "The first guy I worked for full-time was Dave Bezold at Northern Kentucky. He taught me a lot. He said just because you were a good player, don't expect these guys to know or be able to do what you did. That kind of stuck with me. These kids are one level from playing professionally, but they think they know more than they do. You have to be a teacher first."
Remember, before Bezold, Nichols was exposed to the coaching of both now-Michigan coach John Beilein and then Huggins. The former also coached Nichols at WVU before moving.
"I took a lot from them," Nichols said. "The main thing I took from those guys is how they are constantly on the players. With Hugs, sometimes you can't tell afterward if you won or you lost. He teaches that you can't get satisfied as a player. He always demands more."
Another part of the job, of course, is recruiting. Florida landed Johnson, a 6-foot-8 power forward now at Huntington Prep, from the Mountain State. WVU also offered. I asked Nichols if it was weird recruiting against his former coach.
He respectfully spun the question.
"You see a lot of guys on the road," he said. "What's weird is seeing a lot of guys that recruited me. But it's just part of what we do."
OK, so averted like a speedy point guard. But back to Johnson. How good can he be?
"That's the hardest thing to predict," Nichols said. "He's athletic and bouncy. The intangibles are what's hard to predict. But he comes from a background in which a good work ethic has been instilled in him.
"He can move; he can run. He can step outside and shoot or can work inside. And he can offensively rebound. He does that on his own."
Indeed, the future of both the coach and player seems sunny.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.