Tyler Nickel commits to Vanderbilt
On Wednesday, Mark Byington picked up a player he's seemingly been familiar with long before taking the Vanderbilt job.
Vanderbilt has landed former North Carolina and Virginia Tech guard Tyler Nickel.
Nickel averaged 8.8 points, 2.2 rebounds as well as 1.3 assists per game while playing 24.3 minutes per game and starting seven contests for Virginia Tech as a sophomore. Nickel scored in double figures in 17 of Virginia Tech's 33 games.
The wing transferred to Virginia Tech after playing sparingly as a freshman at North Carolina and averaging just 2.1 points per game.
Nickel was rated by Rivals as a four-star, top 100 player out of high school.
The 6-foot-7 forward is from Harrisonburg, Virginia, which is the same town that James Madison is located in.
Nickel is Vanderbilt's second transfer portal commitment.
Breaking down Nickel's game
A good Vanderbilt team needs at least one or two players like Nickel on its roster.
The 6-foot-7 guard is a 39.9% 3-point shooter that will immediately add value as a floor spacer who shot 4.5 times from beyond the arc per game in his 6.6 field goal attempts per game.
Nickel primarily operates from beyond the arc off of the catch but calling him a catch-and-shoot guy would be disingenuous.
It also feels as if Nickel is a real threat off of the closeout, whether that be off of one or two bounces in the midrange or a finish around the rim.
Nickel largely does not get enough credit for that finishing ability around the bucket, either.
That's evident in his transition game, where the Virginia Tech transfer is in the 87th percentile. Perhaps Nickel's length and athleticism can fit Byington's "attacking" mentality on the defensive end. That length and athleticism certainly helps on the glass, where Nickel seems to be capable for his size.
It feels as if Nickel has room to go as a defender, but fits what Byington wants to do on that end.
That's essentially a microcosm of Nickel's commitment. The 6-foot-7 guard likely won't be a 15 point per game scorer or Vanderbilt's best player, but seems to be exactly what Byington is looking for when thinking about what he wants to run.
That's evident in Byington recruiting Nickel out of high school while at James Madison and doing it again years later.
How Nickel fits
Whether Nickel starts or not, and it feels like he will, he will play and will play a lot.
That will largely come at the three and perhaps some at the four.
Vanderbilt's roster is heavily in flux, but there's always room for a 6-foot-7 wing that has a high-major track record, is a capable athlete and is an efficient shotmaker.
Nickel may not be Vanderbilt's best player or one it turns to late in the clock, but he'll be useful and a real fit in Byington's system as he attempts to rebuild Vanderbilt after a 9-23 season.
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