After reportedly being tied to Lady Vols basketball as a transfer portal target, Virginia Tech guard Mackenzie Nelson is headed elsewhere, instead. On Tuesday, Nelson committed to Clemson, she announced on Instagram.
Nelson is coming off her redshirt-sophomore season with the Hokies, giving her two more years of eligibility to compete at the college level. She had played her entire career at Virginia Tech up until this point.
This past season, Nelson averaged 8.0 points per game on 38.7% shooting from the field and 29.2% on threes. She was a critical playmaker for the Hokies, though, racking up 5.7 assists per game with 2.1 turnovers. She started in all 32 appearances for Virginia Tech and played an average of 30.1 minutes per outing.
In her redshirt-freshman year, Nelson averaged 6.0 points per game on 50% shooting from the field and 25% on threes. She also added 3.3 assists with 1.8 turnovers.
She did not play in any games and was given a redshirt for her true freshman year.
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That brings her career averages over those two seasons to 7.0 points, 4.5 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 2.0 turnovers per game while shooting 43% from the field and 28.1% on threes.
Nelson stands at 5-foot-8. She is from Greenwich, Connecticut, and played for St. Luke’s High School. She was considered the No. 65 recruit in her class, via ESPN.
Even without Nelson in the boat, the Lady Vols hold four commitments in the portal so far. The group features Liberty’s Avery Mills, Northern Arizona’s Naomi White, Stanford’s Harper Peterson and Georgia’s Zhen Craft. Tennessee still has plenty more work to be done, though. With incoming freshman Gabby Minus the only other player on the roster, UT is forced to build Caldwell’s third team from the ground up.
