La Salle transfer Josh Nickelberry commits to Florida State

Florida State Seminoles basketball got some welcome news from the transfer portal on Friday, with guard Josh Nickelberry committing to the Seminoles.

Nickelberry averaged 10.3 points a game for the La Salle Explorers this past season, his second with the team after starting his career with the Louisville Cardinals.

As a high school player in the 2019 class, he was considered a four-star prospect and the No. 17 shooting guard in the country by the 247Sports Composite.

From his La Salle bio:

2022-23 (Senior)

• Played in all 34 games with 19 starts
• Named Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 12.5 points per game in 14 games off the bench…ranked second on the team in points per game (10.9) on the season…posted six 20-point games...recorded 10 career 20-point games and scored in double figures in 30 career contests...led the team in scoring 16 times in his career at La Salle
• Ranked fifth in the A-10 in 3-point field goals made (75), sixth in the conference in 3-pointers made per game (2.3), and seventh in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.401)
• Dropped 28 points off the bench against Duquesne (2/22) to tie his career high in points.
• Poured in a game-high 21 points against UMass (2/11), a game-high 18 points in the Explorers’ win over St. Bonaventure (2/8) and a game-high 16 points against Saint Joseph’s (2/5).
• Produced the best two-game scoring span of his Explorer career after pouring in 42 combined points in the first two games of the season against Villanova (11/7) and Wagner (11/12)...dropped 22 points against the Wildcats on 7-of-12 shooting, including 5-for-9 from beyond the arc...netted 20 points against Wagner.
• Put together one of his best scoring performances of the season in the first game of the Jamaica Classic, dropping 26 on ACC foe Wake Forest (11/18)...shot at an efficient clip, going 6-for-11 from 3-point range, 7-for-14 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
• Made the Atlantic 10 Weekly Honor Roll four times
• Named to the Philadelphia Big 5 Weekly Honor Roll four times

2021-22 (Junior)

• Made 29 appearances in his first season on 20^th & Olney, making the starting five on 21 occassions
• Averaged 11.2 points per game
• Debuted in Gola with a 22-point, seven-rebound performance against Sacred Heart on 6-for-11 shooting from deep
• Shot more than 50% from the field, scoring a career-high 28 points and securing a career-best eight rebounds in a win over Holy Cross
• Followed the performance up with a 24 point effort on 66.7% shooting from the field against FDU
• Continued his double-digit streak with 15 points against Penn and 10 points at Bucknell
• Had back-to-back games of 17 points and 19 points in games against St. Bonaventure and Saint Joseph’s
• Knocked down 18 points on 7-12 from the field against UMass
• Had back-to-back games of 17 points against George Mason and Saint Louis inside Tom Gola Arena
• Hit nine of his 13 attempts from the field in the regular season finale at Duquesne

2020-21 (Louisville)

• Appeared in nine games as a sophomore after rehabbing from an injury
• Averaged 2.8 points and 13.2 minutes per game
• Made a three pointer in seven of nine games

2019-20 (Louisville)

• Played in 15 games as a freshman
• Averaged 0.8 points and 3.7 minutes per game
• Scored first collegiate points on a pair of free throws against Indiana State (11/13)
• Knocked down first field goal with a triple against North Carolina Central (11/17)

Background

• Graduated from Northwood Temple Academy in 2019
• Finished his high school career with 2,904 points, making him the second-leading all-time scorer in the history of North Carolina high school basketball
• Averaged 26.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game as a senior, leading team to a 20-14 record and a runner-up position in the 1A NCISAA North Carolina state championship
• Earned NCISAA and AP All-State honors as a senior at Northwood Temple, one vote short of a unanimous selection on the AP team, a member of the All-USA North Carolina Boys Basketball Team, and was a McDonald’s All-American nominee
• Tallied 24.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists as a junior in helping Northwood Temple Academy to the quarterfinals of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A championship, earning first team all-state honors
• He played his eighth-grade and freshman seasons at Northwood Temple, played his sophomore year at Trinity Christian, and returned to Northwood Temple for his final two years
• Earned NCISAA 1A all-state honors as a sophomore at Trinity Christian when he averaged 18.0 points per game and reached double figures in all but three games in leading his team to the NCISAA 1-A championship game
• Son of Gerald Nickelberry and Meredith McKinney
• Played AAU for Game Elite Gold in Atlanta, often driving five hours one way for practice
• Father was a linebacker at Northern Illinois (1991-94) where he finished sixth in career tackles and first in career fumble recoveries
• Mother was a volleyball player and is an Army veteran
• Stepmother, Jessie, was a track and volleyball athlete and is an Army veteran
• Also considered North Carolina, NC State, Michigan, Xavier and UConn before signing with Louisville
• Started playing basketball at the age of eight
• Connected on first dunk in the eighth grade