The UNC basketball program has seen six players enter the transfer portal os far this offseason, leaving Hubert Davis and his staff with some holes for fill for the 2023-24 roster. And while it’s only been a few weeks since the portal has been open, one former Tar Heel has found a new home.
Tyler Nickel has ended his recruitment and has verbally committed to Virginia Tech, returning to his hometown state of Virginia. The forward made the decision to stay in the Atlantic Coast Conference and commit to the Hokies on Thursday, revealing the news to On3.
The Hokies were involved in Nickel’s original recruitment before he committed to North Carolina as part of the 2022 class. And now he will get to see North Carolina at least once a year in the rest of his college career.
NEWS: North Carolina transfer Tyler Nickel has committed to Virginia Tech, he tells @On3sports.
Former 4⭐️ recruit.
Story: https://t.co/m21XKJNTdf pic.twitter.com/beF500OyxI
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) March 30, 2023
The former four-star recruit spent just one season at North Carolina after committing to the program.
In 25 games, Nickel averaged 2.1 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists while playing in about 6 minutes per game. Nickel got some playing time early as UNC went through some injury problems.
But as the year went on, Nickel’s playing time faded. We have to imagine the lack of bench usage by Davis and the staff played a big role in Nickel heading into the portal and returning home.
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