Robert Austin Nichols (born September 20, 1994) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played college basketball for the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

Early years

Nichols attended Briarcrest Christian School in

Eads, Tennessee Eads is an unincorporated community in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, named after Civil War engineer James Buchanan Eads James Buchanan Eads (May 23, 1820 – March 8, 1887) was an American civil engineer and inventor. He held more ...

. While there, he was a four-time letterwinner and helped lead his team to the state championship game. Nichols averaged 22.7 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots his senior season en route to being named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Tennessee. On November 5, 2012, Nichols committed to the

. He had also received offers from

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, Vanderbilt, and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

College career

Memphis

Nichols started in all 34 of the Tigers' games his freshman year. It was the first time a Memphis freshman had done so since Darius Washington, Jr. during the 2004–05 season. Nichols was named

AAC AAC may refer to: Aviation * Advanced Aircraft, a company from Carlsbad, California * Airborne aircraft carrier, a type of aircraft * Alaskan Air Command, a radar network * American Aeronautical Corporation, a company from Port Washington, New ...

Rookie of the Year at the end of the season. During his sophomore year, Nichols would be limited to just 27 games because of several ankle injuries. Despite the injuries, he led the Tigers in scoring (13.3 PPG), was second on the team in rebounds (6.1 RPG), and third in the country in blocked shots (3.4 BPG). At the conclusion of the season, it was announced that Nichols had earned a spot on the All-

First Team, becoming the first Tigers player to do so since the reorganization of the American. The summer following his sophomore season, Nichols requested to be released from his scholarship. The Memphis staff initially refused to let Nichols leave, but eventually granted him a conditional release. The conditions would apply if Nichols transfers to the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, any school in the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

, and any out-of-conference schools that play Memphis during the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons. Transferring to one of these schools meant that he would have to pay for his

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

season before becoming scholarship eligible again once reinstated. The Nichols family hired a lawyer to petition for an unconditional release, and on July 14, 2015, Memphis removed all conditions from Nichols' release.

Virginia

On July 28, 2015, Nichols announced that he was transferring to the University of Virginia. He had also received interest from Notre Dame and Marquette. After sitting out the 2015–16 season as a

, Nichols was scheduled to have two years of eligibility remaining once reinstated. After being suspended for the opener, Nichols appeared in one game. He was then dismissed from the team on November 18, 2016.

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

, 34 , , 34 , , 22.8 , , .589 , , .000 , , .536 , , 4.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 1.2 , , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 26 , , 29.5 , , .497 , , .222 , , .607 , , 6.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 3.4 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 0 , , 16.0 , , .571 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 3.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 11.0

Personal life

Austin's parents are Mark and Kim Nichols. He has a twin sister named Ashley and an older sister Natalie. Nichols was majoring in drama.

References

External links

Virginia bio

DraftExpress.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Austin 1994 births Living people Basketball players from Memphis, Tennessee Memphis Hustle players Memphis Tigers men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball players American men's basketball players 21st-century American sportsmen