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UVU head coach Dan Nielson talks to his team during the WAC game against UT Arlington at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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UVU head coach Dan Nielson directs his team during the WAC game against UT Arlington at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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UVU head coach Dan Nielson directs his team during the WAC game against Cal Baptist at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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It’s been seven years since Dan Nielson to the reins of the Utah Valley women’s basketball head coach, and while not yet satisfied with the current status of his team, there’s few, if any other spots he’d rather be.

Accompanied by family and even two of the family dogs while in his office in Mid-June, Nielson presented a relaxed yet enthusiastic demeanor on the heels of putting together the final touches for this coming year’s product.

“As long as they keep paying me to coach basketball and wear shorts to work, I’m not going to complain about it,” Nielson said. “When I took this job I thought this program could become something really special, although I knew it would take some time. So I’m happy with the progress, but I still feel we’re only scratching the the surface of the potential we have here.”

Last season saw the Wolverines finish with a 16-15 overall record, but also with their second-straight postseason berth, which was the first time in program history in accomplishing that back-to-back feat. And although UVU bowed out of the WNIT Tournament with a first round loss to San Francisco, optimism abounds regarding the team Nielson has put together for the coming season.

“I usually feel like I need to decompress a bit after the season before getting back at it again, but with the girls we were able to get through the transfer portal, I felt like getting back to practice immediately,” Nielson said. “You obviously never know for sure what it’s going to look like until you go through the process of putting it all together, but it’s the most talented group we’ve had here, and that’s really exciting from my perspective.”

The transfer portal additions begin with some impressive size, and a lot of it. Through the recruiting process, UVU was able to land Utah State transfer Gracie Johnson (6-foot-6), Utah Tech transfer Lauren Johnson (6-4) and Elizabeth Gentry (6-3), who previously played two years for Creighton.

“Gracie had some plans change after getting engaged to be married, so we’re thrilled to have her here. She’s so stinking long and we love her potential,” Nielson said. “And then with Lauren, she played in a system that didn’t really fit her strengths because they didn’t post her up, but we feel we have a great system here that she can really thrive in. And with Elizabeth, she was a big recruit that we knew we probably wouldn’t end up getting when she came out of high school, but now she’s here and we couldn’t be more excited because she’s so talented. She’s the sister of Andrew Gentry, who plays football for BYU, so she has a lot of talent and it’s going to be a challenge to figure out how all of the will work together, but a challenge we’re very much looking forward to.”

Other key additions include Marin McKenna, who transferred to UVU from Wyoming after serving a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and forward Tabi Clark, who was a standout for state champion Pleasant Grove last season which earned her Utah Valley Player of the Year honors.

“McKenna is someone we’re really excited about,” Nielson said. “She was a big recruit out of high school, and we just assumed she’d go back to Wyoming, but she reached out to us and we were more than happy to help bring her on to our team. And then Tabi was a great get for us. She committed to us, and even though she had some other bigger programs come after her after she committed, she stayed true to us, and we’re very grateful for that because we feel she can be a big-time player here.”

What Nielson hopes to accomplish with his new group is to maintain his team’s strong defensive identity while adding some more offensive punch.

“I can coach defense all day, and I’m always confident we can get it done on that end of the court, but hopefully we can get better offensively, and I think we definitely have the talent to do that this year,” Nielson concluded. “I really like what I’ve seen with regards to not only their talent level, but their worth ethic and the time I’ve already seen them put in. It all starts with the offseason, and the work that’s done there, and I’ve been really impressed with how our returning players have been working and certainly with some of these incoming players who are really, really talented. So yeah, I’m as excited for this coming year at least as much as I’ve been for any year since I’ve been here. I think the potential of this group is very exciting.”