Tyler Nickel, formerly of Vanderbilt basketball, was selected in the second round, 47th overall, in the 2026 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks on June 24.
Nickel started his career at North Carolina and also played a year at Virginia Tech before heading to Vanderbilt for the 2024-25 season. He spent two seasons with the Commodores, and the best one for the 6-foot-7, 222-pounder came as a senior in 2025-26. The forward helped lead Vanderbilt to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, including an appearance in the second round in 2026.
He is the first Vanderbilt player drafted since 2020.
Nickel projects as a role player at the NBA level. He brings excellent size and shooting as a career 39% 3-point shooter. He also is efficient at scoring around the rim — though he was rarely asked to do that at Vanderbilt — and from the mid-range. He rarely turns the ball over or makes mistakes.
Nickel was one of 10 players in the SEC in 2025-26 to attempt at least 150 3-pointers and shoot at least 40% from deep. Of those players, Nickel’s 275 3-point attempts were tied for the most.
It is worth noting that he provides limited shot creation, as 95% of his 3-pointers were assisted.
Nickel also shot 75% at the rim and 47% on mid-range jumpers, so his scoring ability is not limited to beyond the arc.
He didn’t have the ball in his hands often and rarely drove to the rim, attempting just 36 layups and 59 free throws all season. Though he doesn’t turn the ball over, he doesn’t pass it out much, either, recording 26 turnovers and 43 assists.
During non-conference play, Nickel hit eight 3’s in a game twice within the span of eight days.
In 2025-26, Nickel started all 36 games and played 30.6 minutes per game. He shot 44.5% from the field and 40% from 3-point range, with an 84.7% free-throw percentage.
He averaged 4.3 rebounds per game, most of which were defensive rebounds, as well as 1.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.7 blocks.
In his career, Nickel had a 43.3% field-goal percentage, a 39.4% 3-point percentage and an 83.8% free-throw percentage.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
