Eva Nickerson

The Tempo of Progress: How Eva Nickerson Found Her Rhythm

From watching her brother’s games to carving out her own place in university basketball, Eva’s story is about patience, growth, and the soundtrack that keeps her grounded.

Some players arrive in college basketball like fireworks — loud, fast, impossible to ignore. Eva Nickerson came in more like a melody: steady, deliberate, and stronger with every note.

Her basketball origin story started in the bleachers. She was the little sister tagging along to her brother’s games, falling in love with the rhythm of the sport before she ever played it. By seven, she joined a spring league. By twelve, she was deep into community and club hoops. And by Grade 12 — after helping her club team win a tournament and playing the game of her life in the final — she knew she wanted more. That was the moment: the point where passion turned into purpose.

Her rookie season at St. Mary’s wasn’t the movie montage version of college basketball. It was the grind — learning how to keep up with veterans, how to survive the length of a real season, how to show up when your confidence’s running on fumes. “It was tough,” she says. “But I learned so much from it that I’m thankful for it now.” The work paid off. By her second year, she wasn’t just surviving practice — she was shaping it.

What drives Eva now is simple: be better than she was yesterday. Compete with herself. Push the veterans. Push back. “Playing with teammates who are more skilled or experienced motivates me,” she says. “It makes me want to challenge them.”

There’s another side to her, too — one that most fans never see. Before every game, Eva sits down at a piano. She plays something to get her locked in. After the game, she plays again to unwind. For her, basketball and music are the same in one way: they’re both about finding tempo, patience, and flow.

If there’s a line that sums up her entire outlook, it’s this:

“Don’t compare yourself to other players. Just compare yourself to the person you were yesterday — and get better each day.”

It’s the kind of advice that sounds simple — until you try to live it. But Eva Nickerson does. Every practice. Every game. Every note.