Four-star 2022 wing Nickel talks early contact, UVa, and more

As midnight drew closer last week and the contact portion of the 2022 recruiting cycle was about to begin, a number of players across the nation had the same sense of anticipation, excitement, and uncertainty. That group certainly included four-star wing Tyler Nickel.

When CavsCorner caught up with the East Rockingham standout on Sunday night, he was just starting to find his comfort level at the tail end of a busy, busy week.

“It was crazy,” he explained. “I’ve never really experienced anything like it before. A bunch of coaches, be it guys you had connections to or maybe guys you didn’t even know or didn’t even know they were interested in you, reach out to you at midnight and they all come in and you know you’re a priority to them. It just something that I’ve never seen before.”

It’s one thing to talk about everything that came after midnight, but what was it like at 11:58?

“Honestly I was thinking I was hyping it up too much in my head,” Nickel said with a laugh. “I was like ‘Oh it’s not going to be that crazy. It’s going to be like a text or two.’ But then it was midnight and then it was buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz. And I was like, ‘Golly!’ I didn’t really think it was about to be like that.

“I think the last thing I got was at like 2 a.m.,” he added. “I ended up going to bed at like 2:30 or something.”

The rest of the week went just as well for the Elkton native, as he was able to spend more time talking with some of those coaches and also able hear from new ones.

“It was still busy,” he recalled. “I was still connecting with some coaches, though it wasn’t as high intensity. There weren’t as many back to back to back type of things. Some guys wanted to let the first wave go by and then some other coaches said they wanted to get that night out of the way so they could get my full attention, that type of stuff. It’s still been fun, being able to talk to guys. You can have more detailed conversations when you’re not rushed, when you’re not trying to make sure you were just one of the first.”

Nickel said that one piece that’s been invaluable for him has been the information he’s been able to get from others.

“I talked to some guys about it going in,” he said. “I talked to some of the coaches who were coaching guys when they blew up at those types of times. They had seen it before and knew what to expect. And guys who went on to play in college, I’ve talked to a few of them about what they thought was most important and what made the best relationship through the recruiting process.”

All told, some 32 schools reached out during the first week after being allowed to contact him directly on June 15th.

“I think I’ve talked to seven or eight head coaches,” Nickel said. “That definitely means a lot and makes me feel like they’re prioritizing me, when I talk to the head coach. That definitely makes it clear to me how serious they are about what they’re doing this early in the game. If the head coach wants to talk to me, I think that’s a really good sign.”

Led by assistant coach Jason Williford and then head coach Tony Bennett, UVa has already made it clear that the 6-foot-7, 215 pounder is someone they’re very interested in.

“Coach Williford had been at one of our high school games, so I’ve met him and talked to him before,” Nickel said. “I also have been to UVa before. I took an unofficial visit there last year when they played JMU. So I got to talk to them and talk to Coach Bennett then too. So, I had a little bit of a connection to them beforehand but I didn’t know how serious it was at the time.

“So, then Coach Bennett reached out to me at midnight and that’s when it kind of hit me that it actually means something to him,” he added. “We talked this week and had a really good conversation. He was trying to just get to know me more as a person as well as what I would like to look for in the recruiting process. He was just telling me about the way he evaluates his players and everything. He said that they had a lot of interest in me and that they’re very excited about building a relationship with me and recruiting me. It was a really good conversation.”

With parents that are “both hoopers,” Nickel has long been evaluating different teams and systems as he tried to get a feel for playing for different colleges. That is one of many reasons why he’s found comfort in the chaos thus far.

“I’m definitely comfortable at this point with the recruiting stuff,” he said. “I realized that everything that’s going on is letting me know what all is out there for me and what could potentially be the best fit, the type of relationships I can build. I’m definitely comfortable with the situation I’m in. At this point, everything I do is based on performance and the only way to prove you’re the best is to go play and show it through your play. I’m completely confident that when we do play, that will happen. It’s just a matter of when that happens.

“I just need to continue working like I’m working and that will sort itself out,” Nickel added.

Instead of being able to play up with the Team Loaded Virginia 17s this AAU season, he’s relied on getting work in with his two trainers, Chad Moellenberg and MJ Wynn.

“It’s really tough,” he said. “What’s really convenient for me is that I have high-level trainers that I work with locally and so I’m basically living in the gym. That’s been really helpful for me in terms of elevating my game. There are some high-major guys, potential pros, who live in my area and so I get to bump with them and that’s been helping my game a lot because you can run full court with guys like that and still get a feel for the game on top of the skills work and strength and explosiveness training. This time has definitely caused a big jump in my game, which is really, really good because compared to some other guys who are in an unfortunate spot, it’s actually been really beneficial for me.”

So as things move forward, what’s his focus as trains?

“A lot of it is just making sure things are high intensity but that I’m staying in rhythm all the time,” he said. “Making sure that when you make moves to continue moving forward through every move to make sure your weight is forward and that you’re never put yourself at a less athletic situation. Whether it’s offensively or defensively, always being light on my feet. I’ve been doing a ton of quick twitch movements and working on that. Whenever we do play, I feel like it’s going to be really fun.”

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