Tyler Nelson – the all-time leading scorer in Fairfield University Men’s Basketball history – returned to campus in August of 2025 as Fairfield’s Director of NIL Operations and Player Relations. Since his graduation in 2018, Nelson has played professional basketball in the NBA G League as well as overseas in Germany and Greece.
As Director of NIL Operations and Player Relations, Nelson manages and coordinates Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) operations for Fairfield Athletics with a focus on men’s and women’s basketball. He serves as the key liaison between the athletics department, university, third-party partners, and student-athletes to ensure NIL opportunities are maximized while maintaining integrity and NCAA compliance.
A member of the Fairfield Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024, Nelson scored a record 2,172 points in his standout career from 2014-18. His 17.1 points per game rank eighth all-time on the career charts, and he also holds the Fairfield record for career three-pointers with 315. Nelson scored a program-record 732 points in his senior campaign of 2017-18 to lead the Stags to the MAAC Championship Game. Nelson is a two-time All-MAAC and NABC All-District First Team honoree and a 2018 All-Met Writers First Team selection.
Nelson competed for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2018 NBA Summer League and was the third overall pick by the Greensboro Swarm in the 2018 NBA G League Draft. Nelson played two seasons stateside with the Swarm and the Texas Legends before heading to Europe, where he spent five years with the Rostock Seawolves. He helped Rostock earn a promotion to the German Bundesliga – the highest professional level in Germany and one of the top leagues in Europe. Nelson finished his playing career with one season in the first-tier Greek Basketball League and a final campaign in Germany with Science City Jena, again helping lead his club to a promotion to the Bundesliga.
The
Competitive Excellence Fund allows Fairfield Athletics to continue to build championship-caliber programs and maintain a mission-driven experience by supporting the recruitment, retention, and development of men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes through the direct coordination of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities.
