Josh Nickelberry – SG
Player comparison: Reece Gaines
Maybe the toughest player in this class to compare to a former Cardinal is Josh Nickelberry.
At first, I was thinking maybe Russ Smith, but why am I always trying to compare two guards to Russ? Nickelberry is about 5 inches taller and has a much more polished-looking game.
The guy that he could most resemble, however, is Reece Gaines. Like the Withers-Clark comparison, many will write it off as wishful thinking. But, Josh Nickelberry is a lights-out shooter with a silky smooth handle, and the ability to get to the rack at will.
Gaines was a bit bigger and bulkier in his time at Louisville, but like Nickelberry, Gaines made his name as a top-5 three point shooter in Cardinals history.
Nickelberry burst onto the scene in the same way. He was known as a can’t-miss threat from deep. But as the summer wore on last offseason, Nickelberry’s recruiting rankings went down while he went through a shooting slump.
Instead of hanging his head, Nickelberry found other ways to make his presence felt on the AAU circuit and eventually made his way back into the top 100 of the 247 recruiting rankings.
Now, he enters the fold for the Cards as a well-rounded two guard who has the potential to do some real damage with other big-time playmakers all around him.