WASHINGTON (October 17, 2024) – Head Coach Tori Tyson announced Garrett Nickel and Monique White, along with former Howard University standouts Camille Navarro and Bianca Worthy, have joined the softball coaching staff. The announcement came Friday.
Here is a closer look at each staff member.
NICKEL
With a wealth of Division I coaching experience and a strong national reputation in the softball community, Nickel was promoted from his role as a volunteer to an assistant coach.
Before Howard, Nickel was an assistant coach at Stetson University in 2022 where he focused on battery development and defense. Under his leadership, Stetson achieved notable successes, including seven shutouts, 218 strikeouts and wins over top programs, such as Liberty, Delaware and Maryland.
Nickel also worked as a facilitator with Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball in Chicago (2021). He assisted captains and players in creating lineups, managing substitutions and running practices. He drafted teams and coordinated events with AU support staff, fostering strong relationships with a player base that included Olympians from the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Earlier in his career, Nickel was a student assistant at Arizona State University, contributing to the softball program for three seasons. Nickel has also represented the USA Men's Softball National Team as a pitcher, competing internationally for two years, achieving a seventh-place finish in the WBSC World Championships.
Nickel earned a Bachelor of Science in Community Sports Business and Management from Arizona State University. He has expertise in elite mental performance development, educational leadership and sports technology. Nickel has earned numerous accolades, including a National Collegiate Speech Award and the title of MVP/U.S. National Champion in the 2021 NIT.
Tyson on Nickel: "Garrett is a phenomenal professional pitcher in his own right, so our pitchers are being challenged by someone who's also been in it. He has raised the standard and bought into developing that area daily. Our hitters are also getting some legit live arm training so we are seeing benefits offensively as well."
NAVARRO
Named 2021 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Year, Navarro is one of the most successful players who played for Tyson. Following the 2022 campaign, she helped Howard finish with 31 victories. Howard won its second MEAC Tournament championship in program history. The Bison competed in the NCAA Tournament's Tallahassee Regional where they played Florida State and Mississippi State. Navarro earned All-MEAC recognition during her career. She was named twice to the All-MEAC Tournament team.
She had a memorable senior year, leading the MEAC in runs scored and tying for the conference lead in stolen bases. Navarro finished second in the conference in hits and third in doubles. She was fifth in on-base percentage and sixth in batting average and slugging percentage. Navarro had a team-leading 63 hits. She ended her career with .380 batting average, 195 hits and 129 runs scored.
Since graduating, Navarro has worked with the Bison offense as a volunteer. Last season, Howard led the MEAC in batting average (.334) in 2024. Howard also finished with 404 hits as a team, which led the conference.
Tyson on Navarro: "Camille is a Bison and literally bleeds blue! She was part of restoring the tradition during my first year here and finished her career as a MEAC champion. She is great culturally and knows hitting! She was the prototype for the system that we teach so our student-athletes are learning from the best. Our catchers have always been a bit neglected so now we have her to fine tune their craft and it's been great."
WHITE
Serving in a role as Howard Director of Player Development, White brings lots of experience to the Bison staff. She recently was Hampton's head coach for the last three years. Prior to Hampton, White worked for three years as an assistant coach at Georgetown University. White was an assistant coach at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) from 2014-18. She supported a program that finished each season with a winning record since she joined the coaching staff.
White played collegiate softball at Daytona State College (DSC) from 2004-06 before finishing her career at Florida International University (FIU) from 2006-08. While at DSC, she was a two-time all-conference selection while also earning player of the year and best defensive player accolades. At FIU, White was a two-time All-Sun Belt selection and was selected the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year (2007). She still stands atop the FIU all-time leaderboard for home runs in a single season (17) in 2008. For her career, she hit .351 with 31 home runs in two seasons, both of which rank second in school history.
White played internationally for one season with the Gryphons in Rosmalen, Netherlands. After her playing career, White served as an instructor with Game On Softball in Jacksonville, Fla., and took over the softball program at Bishop Kenny High School in 2010. Next year (2011), White was named an assistant coach at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. She returned to Jacksonville in 2012 to work as the assistant coach at Fletcher High School for two seasons.
White served as the head coach for Soder, a softball program that is part of the Swedish Softball Federation in Stockholm, Sweden (2012-14) and led the team to its first gold medal in the 15-year club history as the Swedish Championship Winner. She was also named to the Swedish National team as an assistant softball coach in 2013 and helped Sweden place seventh out of 19 teams at the European Softball Championships.
White received her Associate of Arts in communications from DSC and a Bachelor of Science in journalism with a minor in marketing from FIU. She completed her master's degree in leadership from Embry-Riddle in December 2016.
Tyson on White: "Monique has been such a huge addition! This position is so pivotal and the fact that we have this available for our student-athletes is huge but to have Monique with all her experience is next level! She is already challenging the student-athletes and the coaches and we are leaning into it."
WORTHY
After earning All-MEAC recognition during Howard's 32-win season a year ago, Worthy will work as a graduate assistant this season. She finished the 2024 campaign with a .386 batting average, 53 hits, 35 runs scored and 20 RBIs. Worthy was named MEAC Player of the Week three times. She had 14 multi-hit games, including four hits in a victory over Towson, which was Howard's program record 11th consecutive victory. Among one of Howard's wins last season was a triumph over UConn, which Worthy had two hits, scored twice and drove in three runs.
Tyson on Worthy: "Bianca is finishing her master's program and will stay as a volunteer in the spring. In her one year as a Bison, she led with passion so I am grateful we get to keep her around. She is working with our outfield and going to focus on the slappers offensively."
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.
