Tyler Nelson, Navy's explosive, dynamic senior forward, admits he did not see the Midshipmen's January slide coming. He thought the basketball team was in a better place, before the 9-10 Mids started 2023 with five consecutive losses in Patriot League play.


Nelson, a three-year starter, also did not expect to experience his first slump of his final season quite this way. Over Navy's first four losses to mark the new year, the team's leading scorer managed barely seven points per game, while shooting 33 percent. Due in part to defensive lapses in a recent, nine-point loss to visiting Lafayette, Nelson was on the floor for only 18 minutes.

Last week, Nelson returned more to form in a 69-67, last-second loss at Loyola. Nelson scored 16 points, showcasing his outside shooting, rebounding, and sheer athleticism with an early drive and thunderous dunk. He held Greyhounds guard Jaylin Andrews in check for much of the night, before getting beat by Andrews in the closing seconds on a spin fake and drive to the basket for a game-winning layup.

"We are in a funk," Nelson said recently. "The games we've lost, we've lost them in different ways. I truly believe it's just a matter of putting everything together. I wouldn't say we're losing confidence. We're figuring things out in a new season and a new conference season. We've got to put together two strong halves."

Things looked so different on December 30, following a convincing, 75-58 win at Boston University on conference opening night. Navy was 8-5 overall.

Nelson, sporting his improved three-point stroke, was its leading scorer – he still is averaging a team-high 12.4 points – and was leading the Mids in a slew of other categories.

That afternoon in New England, the 6-feet-6, 220-pound Nelson lit up the Terriers with a career-high 25 points, powered by 6-for-10 shooting that included four three-pointers and a 9-for-9 show at the foul line. That marked his most made free throws ever in a college game.

Yet there were signs that Navy head coach Ed DeChellis saw as flashing lights. While the Mids had boosted their potent offense by climbing into the top 10 in the country in three-point shooting percentage, Navy was surrendering significantly more points than usual. The Mids were prone to untimely scoring droughts and too many turnovers. Their rebounding, by Navy standards, was subpar.

And suddenly, five consecutive losses happened, sending the Mids to 8-9 and nearly the bottom of the Patriot League with a 1-5 mark. Navy had not lost five straight conference games since 2014.

The culprits varied. Holy Cross hit Navy with 13 threes and won, 74-63. Lehigh dominated the closing minutes of a 78-73 victory. The Mids gave up 87 to high-powered, first-place Colgate in a 14-point loss, after taking a 25-6 lead. Defense was not the issue in a 59-50 loss to Lafayette. And the Mids faded offensively after building a double-digit, second-half lead at Loyola.

Navy hopes its funk has ended, thanks to Wednesday's 63-45 whipping of Boston U, which finished 25 points below its average.

"It's on all of us to pick up the pieces. I can do a lot more than what I've been doing," said Nelson, who scored six points his second time facing the Terriers. "Our defense has had some problems. I've got to be a guy that impacts the game defensively every night, and I have not been doing that."

"It's my fault we were 1-5, nobody else's," DeChellis said. "I've got to get individuals to play well as a team. We have different guys not doing their jobs at different times. We're not defending or rebounding offensively the way we need to."

"Tyler is a pleasure to be around. He has an ability that sometimes he doesn't know he has. He has put in the work to make himself into a really good player," he added. "He came in with great jumping ability, good length and speed and he has worked hard on improving his shot. He's come a long way, but I always want more."

At Metrolina Christian Academy in Monroe, N.C., and as an AAU summer player, Nelson spent most of high school playing days as a point guard. He stood 5-9 as a sophomore. He grew to 6-1 by his junior season. By graduation in 2018, Nelson was 6-5 and headed for a prep year at Hargrave Military Academy.

He had drawn interest from some Division II and III schools, even committed to Roanoke (Va.) College before deciding to go the Hargrave route. After graduating from Metrolina, he attended Navy's elite basketball camp, where Nelson's size, length, athleticism and skill set stood out. DeChellis offered him the chance to be a Midshipman.

Navy, the only Division I school to pursue him, stayed in touch during Nelson's Hargrave year, and Nelson committed during his official visit to the Naval Academy.

"Tyler has been blessed with the abilities to lead and to serve," said his father, Tyrone Nelson. "He was a late grower. Running the point all of those years allowed him to really see the court and taught him to be a coach on the floor and to encourage his teammates and get them involved in the offense."

Nelson, who will graduate in four months with a degree in English and be commissioned an Ensign and serve in the U.S. Navy as a surface warfare officer, arrived for plebe summer in 2019 as a different athlete than the kid who had reported to Hargrave. He was a raw and promising wing forward.

Nelson would play in the last 29 games of his freshman season. He has started all but one game since.

"Tyler made an immediate impact as a freshman, then made a huge jump between his first and second years," said teammate Patrick Dorsey, a senior guard. "His work ethic and love for the game are real."

"Sometimes, when [Nelson] gets the ball on the wing, rips it, takes it for one or two dribbles and just dunks on somebody, you're like, 'This doesn't look like it belongs in the Patriot League.' When we play teams like Virginia and West Virginia, in terms of size and athleticism, Tyler matches up with those guys. He is a freak athlete. Once he gets downhill on you, it's very tough to stop him, said Dorsey."

Nelson started all 18 games in the Covid-shortened, 2020-21 season, averaging 5.3 points and 3.4 rebounds. Led by senior Cam Davis, Navy finished 15-3.

As a junior, Nelson contributed 22 minutes a game while starting 31 of 32 contests and averaging 8.6 points (third on the team) and 4.5 rebounds (second). He shared the team lead with 25 blocks. Seniors Richard Njoku and Greg Summers were defensive stalwarts on that squad.

Nelson's offseason work on his outside shot has paid off in a big way. In his first three seasons, Nelson relied heavily on his first-step ability to blow by opponents and get to the rim. He made a combined 42 three-point shots on 136 attempts (30.8 percent) over that span.

This year, Nelson already has canned 43 threes in 100 attempts (43 percent). He leads the team in three-point percentage and made and attempted threes. Overall, Nelson is shooting a strong 46.3 percent. He is second in rebounding (5.7 per game) and steals (19).

DeChellis wants Nelson to get reacquainted with his ability to whip defenders off the dribble and attack the basket, to hunt for more free throws, to be a more complete scorer instead of settling for jumpers too often. So does Tyrell Nelson, Tyler's 27-year-old brother, who, at 6 feet 8, 230, is playing overseas for his sixth team in six years, this year in Split, Croatia.

"I think, because [Tyler] is shooting the ball that well, he's looking to use the three to open up everything else," Tyrell Nelson said. "I've been telling him to use all of his tools, score from three levels. Normally, he likes to drive more than he likes to shoot. Tyler has always been faster than me. He's still got that great first step and nobody can contest him at the rim. Go get more stuff there."

Tyler Nelson said he has no doubt that Navy will right itself by getting back to Navy defense and sharpening its overall consistency, and that he will tighten up his game at both ends of the floor.

"Every competitor going through something like this is going to be frustrated at some point. I'm frustrated with where we are as a collective unit," Nelson said. "As a player and a leader on the court, you pay attention to the little things, to everybody's body language. We have to take the next step. We have to get past this."

"On the outside, it might be hard for people to see the light at the end of the tunnel," he added. "On the inside, we think we are right there. We think we're going to make a jump in the league [standings] sooner than other people think."