Former King’s Fork High School standout Cydney Nichols earned USA South Player of the Week honors last week.

After initially giving up basketball to play soccer in college, Nichols decided to step back on the court. During the spring of 2017, Nichols signed to play soccer at North Carolina Wesleyan College. She stepped in as a freshman and made an immediate impact on the team, leading it in scoring.

But during the winter, Nichols went to the women’s basketball games and pondered what could be if she stepped back on the court.

“When soccer season was over last year, I went to the basketball games and really enjoyed watching them play,” she said. “It made me really miss being back out there, so I decided to see if I could play.”

She returned for her sophomore season this year and continued her impressive start for the women’s soccer team. After that, she decided to make her return back to the court.

Nichols admits it was hard finding her groove again. Soccer on the college level is more physical and hands on. College basketball is physical as well, but she couldn’t do half the things she was allowed to do in soccer on the court.

Her coaching staff helped her get acclimated, and her teammates have helped her as well. She feels like she is back in a groove now, and it’s evident by her conference POTW honor.

This past week, Nichols helped NCW to a 1-1 week while averaging 15.5 points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist. In NCW’s win over Pfeiffer College, she scored a career-high 26 points.

“It felt really great to get the recognition,” she said. “We were in a slump, so being able to get a win while performing how I did was great.”

With this being her first season back on the floor, Nichols just wants to come in and do what she can to help her team win. NCW is currently 2-8. She has been coming off the bench for now and adding a spark to the team.

At King’s Fork, Nichols was a basketball standout all four years. During her senior season, she helped the Lady Bulldogs reach their first state title game. That season she was All-Conference, All-Region and All-State. Coming out of King’s Fork, she could have chosen to go to school for either basketball or soccer. Now she is doing both.