Last week the Texas Tech coaches received a preferred walk on commitment from Grand Oaks punter Grant Nickel. The staff needed to add a specialist after Cody Waddell entered the transfer portal earlier this offseason, and Nickel committed just a couple weeks after he received his PWO offer.

What you need to know...

... Nickel was offered his preferred walk on spot on December 15th, and announced his commitment on January 1st

... Nickel was named the District 13-6A Special Teams Player of the Year. Per his MaxPreps.com profile, Nickel punted 25 times for 1050 yards (42.0 yards per punt), made 10-of-12 field goals and went a perfect 50-for-50 on extra points this season

... Per his Kohl's Kicking profile, Nickel ranks as a 4.5-star kicker and punter, and is ranked as the No. 45 punter in the nation. Kohl's Kicking adds the following comments:

"Nickel recently competed at Kohl's National Scholarship Camp in July of 2020. Nickel had multiple 50+ yard punts and showed great command of his body during the field goal and kickoff charting phases of camp. Nickel had solid showing at the 2019 National Scholarship Camp. He scored 27 points in the field goal portion of camp and showed he is one of the better pure ball strikers in his class. He has excellent refinement in his leg swing and produces a consistent ball flight on nearly every kick. Nickel has a bright future as a k/p and should only get better in the years to come!"

Texas Tech coaches: "I first heard from coach McGrath towards the end of November, and I have also been in contact with coach Tommerdahl. I feel like I have a pretty good relationship with the staff. I have talked with Coach Tommerdahl and McGrath on multiple occasions. I feel like they really took the time to get to know me both as a player and as a person."

Role at Texas Tech: "I have been recruited as a punter, but I am expected to keep practicing the other aspects of kicking."

Reaction to receiving TTU offer: "I was really excited. I knew it would be hard to get an offer considering my high school is newer and we only had one season in a district, not to mention trying to be recruited during a pandemic, but it was just a dream come true."

Other schools in the mix: "I wasn’t getting a ton of attention from other schools, but I have talked with the University of Arizona and Oklahoma State. I was also offered by Southwestern, a division III school in Georgetown, Texas."

Arriving in Lubbock: "I don’t know all of the details yet, but I will be heading up to Lubbock this summer to get started."

Staying in Texas for school: "Staying in state for me was super important because although Lubbock is still about an eight hour drive, I wanted to stay close to my family."