TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) – David Nichols has signed a Grant-In-Aid to attend Florida State University and play basketball for Head Coach Leonard Hamilton during the 2018-19 season. Nichols will earn his degree in communications from Albany in June and become immediately eligible as a graduate transfer.

Nichols (6-0, 190) earned first-team all-conference honors in the America East as a sophomore in 2016-17 when he averaged 17.9 points, 3.2 assists and shot .830 from the free throw line, leading Albany to a 21-14 record and an appearance in the postseason CIT. He scored his career-high 40 points in Albany’s victory over Hartford. Nichols averaged 14.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists as a junior this past season.

“I chose Florida State because Coach Hamilton’s team was the right fit athletically and for what I can do on the court,” said Nichols. “Academically, Florida State will allow me to grow and will give me the tools to pursue my goals after basketball. The coaching staff, support staff and players made me feel like I was part of the FSU family during my short time there on my visit. I am looking forward to getting on the court, seeing how good this team can be in chasing an ACC Championship and making a deep in the NCAA Tournament.”

Nichols was a part of 67 wins in three season, an average of 22.3 wins a year at Albany.

Nichols (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) will earn his bachelor’s degree from Albany with a 3.9 grade point average in just three years and will begin working on his Master’s Degree upon his arrival at Florida State. He was named the America East Winter Scholar Athlete for men’s basketball during the 2016-17 season, was a CoSIDA Academic All-District I honoree and earned Dean’s List honors in each of his six semesters at Albany.

“We are very happy to welcome David to our program,” said Hamilton. “He is an established guard with a history of performing well against high level collegiate competition. He scored 15 points and had seven rebounds when Albany played Louisville to a two-point game on the road and scored 14 points on the road at Memphis last season. David fit in well with our players during his visit, and we are looking forward to getting him on campus and teaching him our system. He is going to be a good fit for our team.”

Florida State advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and was ranked No. 18 in the final USA Today poll of the season. The Seminoles defeated a near-school-record six ranked teams including two in the NCAA Tournament (Xavier and Gonzaga) and finished the season with a 23-12 overall record.