North Carolina transfer Tyler Nickel commits to Virginia Tech

North Carolina transfer Tyler Nickel has committed to Virginia Tech, he told On3. Nickel averaged 2.1 points, 0.6 rebounds, and 0.3 assists during his lone season with the Tar Heels. He appeared in a total of 25 games this season, averaging only six minutes per outing. North Carolina finished 20-13 overall this season, missing the NCAA tournament.

Nickel discussed his commitment to Virginia Tech with On3.

“I chose (Virginia Tech) because I believe it’s a great situation for me individually as well as being part of a team that can win a lot of games,” he said to On3. “I also have built a really good relationship with Coach Young and the whole staff.”

The 6-foot-7 freshman is originally from Harrisonburg, Virginia, just two hours from the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg. The Hokies were heavily involved in Nickel’s recruitment process when coming out of high school. Nickel attended East Rockingham, where he is the state of Virginia’s all-time leading scorer.

Nickel is a former four-star recruit and was the No. 84 overall player in the nation from the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

Tyler Nickel announces commitment to Virginia Tech, transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.