Adidas Friday: Josh Nickelberry
EMERSON, Ga. -- Top 65 shooting guard Josh Nickelberry played with Game Elite last travel season, but decided to start this travel season with Team Loaded Virginia. This week in Atlanta at the Adidas Gauntlet, he’s back with his old squad and it looked like he never left.
In a win over the Michigan Mustangs, the four-star shooting guard in the 2019 class out of North Carolina had his perimeter stroke going right from the jump. It’s that ability to fill it up from deep that has programs such as Louisville, NC State, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest in the mix for his signature when he’s ready to sign.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
A sharpshooter with size, Nickelberry went for 16 points in Game Elite's win over the Michigan Mustangs and shared his thoughts on some of the schools recruiting him -- all of whom watched on Saturday.
Louisville: “They are great. I know Coach Chris Mack’s history from when he was at Xavier. He’s a great coach and had a top five team. I know he’s about to build a great program.”
NC State: “Coach (Kevin) Keatts is doing great there. He came in and did well what he had. He’s a great coach.”
Virginia Tech: “They have some guys that will be leaving by the time I would get there, so they’ll need some players to come in and play in my class. They have a good program.”
Wake Forest: “They are still rebuilding. They need more guys like me to go in there and produce. They said I could come in and play as a freshman.”
RIVALS' REACTION
Nickelberry maintains he’s wide open in his recruitment and nowhere near ready to commit to a school. Listening to him talk, it seems like a few schools have done a great job with him lately. NC State generated a lot of momentum this year as Kevin Keatts and the Wolfpack surpassed expectations in his first year as head coach. Danny Manning and his staff have also been very involved and have him convinced the Demon Deacons are close to competing at a high level in the ACC. And lastly, Virginia Tech was one of the two schools along with North Carolina to get him on campus this year. Buzz Williams and the Hokies will be a player in this one until the end.