By JACOB POLACHECK
Nico Mannion, the 6-foot-3 point guard from Pinnacle (AZ) High School, announced his commitment to Arizona on Friday, via Twitter.
“Coach [Mark] Phelps and I have kind of been going through their roster about who they’re going to have if I were to go there in ’19,” Mannion said recently. “They’ll have an older roster as well the players that they’re going to get. But I’m close to a couple of their players, like Ira [Lee] and Brandon Williams, which is cool. So I’ve talked to them a little bit and they say they love it up there.”
Mannion, who cut his list to two earlier this month, chose the Wildcats over Marquette. Before cutting to two, Mannion was also considering Duke and Villanova. He officially reclassified to the 2019 class in July.
He was scheduled to take an official visit to Marquette next month (Oct. 5-7) but canceled the visit following his commitment. October 5th. He will still take his slated official to Arizona next month (Oct. 19-21).
Playing with West Coast Elite on the Under Armour Circuit, Mannion averaged 14.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, going 16 for 42 from three-point range in the eight games.
According to 247Sports, Mannion is ranked as the No. 13 overall player and top point guard in the Class of 2019. He is the first commit in the Wildcats’ 2019 class.
Mannion looks to be an NBA prospect down the road.
“High on Nico Mannion’s NBA outlook,” ESPN’s Mike Schmitz said. “Has positional size, impressive change of pace with the ball, good feel, has touch and creativity, killer mentality/confidence. He’s impressed me with the Italian U16 team, on the AAU circuit, and at Steph Curry Camp. Great get for Arizona.”
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