Prospect Spotlight: Tyrese Nickelson (2019)
A phenomenon in Iowa this past winter, Waterloo East’s 6-foot point guard Tyrese Nickelson turned heads with some prolific numbers in February.
The sophomore transferred into East from Waterloo West, so he sat out the first portion of the season. But in the final 10 games that he did play, Nickelson averaged 24.8 points per game, on some decent shooting.
He rocketed up our rankings already, to No. 18 in 2019. It seems just a matter of time before college coaches get on board.
“I think I’m the most underrated player, I think I should be known a little bit more. I think AAU will be good for me this year,” said Nickelson, who has played with All Iowa Attack in the past.
“Yes, I want to play with them (Attack) again, and I’ll most likely play in a few tournaments with the Barnstormers.”
Nickelson added: “No coaches have really reached out to me yet, I think it’s because of the 90 days I sat out this year.”
He’s hoping this summer — his 16U grassroots season — is when his recruitment lifts off.
“I want to play Division I basketball. I just hope coaches look at me this summer,” said Nickelson.
An elite scorer and playmaker, the talented sophomore defined his playing style to PHIA.
“I like to break people down off the dribble and get to the rim, and this year I thought I shot the ball pretty good from the 3-point line,” he said.
“I usually look to score first, this year I was looking to get the ball of of my hands and get my teammates the ball a little bit.”
Because of his transfer from Waterloo West, Nickelson was forced to sit out the first part of the season, but was alarmingly good upon his return in late-January.
“I could have done better some games, but overall I’m happy with the way I played this year. I came in thinking I could score over 20 points per game,” he said.
“I was in the gym every day when I was sitting out, that’s all I did was work on my game.”
Nickelson was particularly proficient during a tough stretch to finish the season, when the Wahawks when played four very quality teams in a row. He averaged 29.3 points in those final four games against Cedar Falls, Kennedy, Dubuque Senior and Mason City.
“My team wanted me to take a lot of shots this year, and that’s what I did, I took a lot of shots,” said Nickelson. “And we had some really good games late against Kennedy and Dubuque, Senior and I had my best games then.”
With still two seasons of high school ball ahead of him, Nickelson emphasized leadership is what he’d like to improve most before next season.
“The main thing I’m going to work on for next year is to be a leader,” he said. “Like when my teammates would take bad shots I would get mad and not really be a leader, so I’m working on that this summer.”