Phoenix mega-recruit Nico Mannion, middle, was the first to sign his letter of intent during the early signing period in November to play for the Arizona Wildcats in 2019-20.
The way Miller described things this week, the unsung hero of the Wildcats’ top-rated recruiting class just might be … a former Utah standout.
Pace Mannion is the Scottsdale-based father of five-star point guard Nico Mannion — and a former Golden State Warriors draft pick out of Utah who played professionally in the NBA and overseas. Miller described him as somebody who knows how things work in basketball, indicating that might have been an asset considering the allegations the Wildcats have been recruiting under.
“Nico comes from a unique situation in that his dad and mom are both professional athletes,” Miller said, also referring to Gaia Bianchi Mannion, a former pro volleyball player in Italy. “Pace has been there and done that. He’s playing in the NBA. He played college basketball. You’re not going to trick him. He knows what’s going on. He knows how the game is played.”
People are also reading…
Miller said coming from that sort of family enabled Nico to commit to Arizona, and he in turn praised Nico for being a catalyst that encouraged three other recruits to follow: Josh Green, Christian Koloko and Terry Armstrong, plus unsigned commit Zeke Nnaji.
