An inside look at Belmont Basketball star forward Nick Muszynski

Belmont’s Nick Muszynski (33) is announced before taking on the SIU Edwardsville Cougars during their quarterfinal game of the Ohio Valley Conference 2021 Basketball Championships at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., Wednesday evening, March 3, 2021.Ovc Mball Belmont Vs Siue 18 /

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Nick Muszynski Belmont Basketball (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

As a late bloomer, things didn’t come together until late

In his early high school years Nick remembers, “I was never really able to grow into my body, I was a sophomore on JV, I got sent down from the varsity practice.” His coach was frustrated by the fact that a kid who stood 6’7 couldn’t put it together. It was at that time that Nick wasn’t sure if basketball would work out.

He said, “I was looking at regular schools, I’m from Columbus, Ohio, what would it take for me to get into Ohio State. My parents went to Ohio University, maybe OU or Miami-OH. I might just go be a normal student, be a business major, be whatever.” Things finally started coming together for him during his junior year and thanks to a good end to the year and a productive summer, the collegiate offers began to roll in, first from the Division II level, and then Division I would come knocking.

“Late March I picked up Air Force as my first Division I and that’s when I really wasn’t sure if I’d play Division II, III I really didn’t know.” For Nick when deciding where he would spend his college career, it wasn’t about basketball he says, “I really value my education, I went to the best high school in the state and I didn’t want to sacrifice my academics for athletics.”

Nick was like a lot of kids when they graduate high school, they want to get away from home, “I never really wanted to stay in Columbus, Ohio, I love to travel I always wanted to go elsewhere.” That was evident based on the four visits he took during his recruitment. In addition to Belmont, he visited Stony Brook, Air Force, and UNC-Asheville before deciding to head to Nashville to play for the Bruins. “I was fortunate to have four great offers from four different schools in four different parts of the country.”

When deciding he says, “Belmont had the perfect everything, it had the total package with great winning, family-oriented culture with great academics, great facilities, coaching staff, one of the best cities in the country with a beautiful campus, great administration the whole nine yards.” Nick says the choice was easy and he knew on the plane ride home that he wanted to be a Bruin.