The Hokies hosted on of the most important hoops recruits on the board last weekend, with in-state wing/forward Tyler Nickel making his way to Blacksburg. Things went very well. Well enough, in fact, that I've gone ahead and done what I previously teased being close to: submitted a FutureCast pick for the Orange and Maroon.
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Tyler himself hasn't been able to find a time to chat, but people close to him have indicated that things were super-good with the visit. The Hokies feel like if they weren't already No. 1 on his list, they've put themselves in that position now.
Nickel is still slated to take the rest of his official visits - he saw Butler the weekend before the VT visit, and has North Carolina and Iowa the next two weeks, and he also wants to fit in LSU at some point - before making his college commitment. However, there's a
slight possibility he may accelerate this timeline. A source in North Carolina actually reached out to me to ask if Nickel's still planning on going to UNC this weekend (since I haven't spoken directly to him yet, that's TDB). That's an indication of just how much wariness they have after hearing a bit about his VT visit.
The Hokies currently have one Class of 2022 pledge, South Carolina wing MJ Collins. A point guard and a big are also necessary in the class, but Mike Young and his crew have a number of scholarships to bring in best-available players, as well. Keve Aluma, Storm Murphy, and Justyn Mutts are the only players with senior eligibility on the 2021-22 team, but VT also has only 11 scholarship players right now, so there's room for four signees.
