6/21/2021 basketball Edit

UNC Offers 4-Star 2022 Sharpshooter Tyler Nickel

Class of 2022 sharpshooter Tyler Nickel is the latest prospect to get an offer from Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels. (Rivals.com)

Andrew Jones • TarHeelIllustrated

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Andrew Jones has covered sports for 26 years, including all major college & professional sports for daily newspapers & national sites. He's done radio and TV & is entering his seventh year at THI.

Tyler Nickel, a 4-star class of 2022 small forward who attends East Rockingham High School in Elkton, VA, has been offered a scholarship to play basketball at North Carolina, he announced Monday evening on Twitter.

Nickel, who is 6-foot-7 and 215 pounds, played in an NCAA Certified Team Camp at Rise Indoor Sports Facility this past weekend in Bermuda Run, NC, where he turned in terrific performances both days. On Sunday, UNC’s coaching staff, including Hubert Davis, Jeff Lebo, Sean May, and Brad Frederick, were on hand to watch Nickel.

He scored 33 points in front of the Carolina staff and also scored 36 and 31 points in other games at the event.

Nickel is rated the No. 96 overall prospect nationally in the class of 2022 and some of his many offers are from Indiana, Iowa, LSU, Creighton, and Virginia Tech.

"They like toughness and the chip on my shoulder type of mentality,” Nickel recently told THI. “That's basically what they told me and I fit exactly what they're trying to have, and they've been trying to make that very clear to me.”

Nickel is known for his ability to put the ball in the basket. Former Georgetown and NBA star Allen Iverson was the all-time leading high school scorer in the state of Virginia until Mac McClung took the mantle three years ago. But Nickel is within striking distance to take the top spot.

He has scored 1,902 points in his career trailing McClung by 899 points. Last season, Nickel averaged 34 points per game, so if he maintains the same pace he could break the mark by his 26th game next season.

“Basically, what I pride myself on is being a really talented scorer on all three levels, just being a bucket, however,” Nickel said. “Probably making plays offensively whether it's creating for me or my teammates and being able to guard multiple positions on the defense end. I'm tough around the rim offensively and defensively and tough on the boards. That's basically how I would describe a lot of it.”