According to Cats Pause’s Aaron Gershon, Kentucky has made contact with Virginia Tech Hokies sophomore guard/forward Tyler Nickel.
News broke earlier Monday that Kentucky had also contacted South Carolina senior guard Meechie Johnson
Originally a 4-star prospect in the class of 2022, Nickel signed with the North Carolina Tar Heels out of high school. After rarely seeing the floor in six minutes per game, Nickel entered the transfer portal and landed at Virginia Tech.
This past season, the 6-foot-7, 220-pound native of Virginia averaged 8.8 points on 43.8% shooting (39.9% on 3-pointers), 2.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 24.3 minutes per game. He appeared in 33 games with seven starts.
Nickel is primarily known as a 3-point shooter, as 4.5 of his 6.6 shot attempts per game came from deep. According to KenPom, all of Nickel’s minutes last season came at the 4 spot, so he’s more of a stretch 4 than a guard.
With Jayden Quaintance likely being the starting 5 next season, Nickel could be a great piece to help space the floor from the 4 spot and open things up for Quaintance in the paint.
Of course, Kentucky could still return guys like Ugonna Onyenso, Aaron Bradshaw, and/or Zvonimir Ivisic to play the 4/5 spots, but if history tells us anything, it’s to not expect guys like that back for another season.
