Oak Ridge (TN) senior punter/place-kicker Brandon Nickle announced that he will attend Virginia Tech, spurning scholarship offers from New Mexico State and North Dakota State and other college interest in favor of a recruited walk-on spot with the Hokies.
I have decided to further my education and football career at Virginia Tech! pic.twitter.com/mgzZZ05a8y
— Brandon Nickle (@bnickle3) April 12, 2016
Nickle, a 5’10”, 180-pound prospect, earned Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Class 5A first-team all-state honors at punter in 2015. He participated in the 2015 Toyota East Vs West All-Star Classic, connecting on field goals of 42 and 29 yards and booting five punts for 230 yards, including a long of 74 yards.
Kohl’s Kicking ranks Nickle as a 5-star punting prospect and a 4.5-star kicking prospect in the class of 2016. Kohl’s has this following description of the future Hokie on its website…
“Nickle has now attended several Kohl’s events. He showed the best at the Spring Showcase in May of 2015. Nickle hit three consecutive 5.0 hang-times in the drill work and won the punt competition held at the end of camp. He has displayed the ability to do all three disciplines collegiately. His punting has gotten much better and he is currently one of the best punters in the 2016 class. His combo k/p abilities make him a very good overall prospect.”
Nickle provides Virginia Tech another option at punter in the upcoming season. As the roster stands right now, red-shirt junior Mitchell Ludwig is the only punter on the roster.
Print
A top 10 punter!!! Sounds mighty good to me. Welcome to Hokie Nation Mr. Nickle.
Oak Ridge is a pretty rural area but still how was he overlooked?
Great !! We NEED a stud punter!!! Welcome aboard B Nickle!!
I guess he likes keeping his uni clean….we’re never punting again!!
Glad to have you Brandon, welcome home!
Did that other K/P kid walk on. I think his name was Brian Johnson. I remember seeing something mentioning he was going to be a recruited walk-on.
I agree this is a big deal. I hope we will have infrequent needs for his skill set.
Listened to one of his games on radio. He was described as real weapon, he kept changing field position.
Pretty big deal IMHO. We needed competition at that spot and hopefully a future.