Nico Mannion has decided to join the NCAA Basketball class of 2019. Which teams are most likely to get his commitment in the future?
Zion Williamson may not have been the No. 1 overall recruit in terms of rankings for the 2018 class but arguably he was the most intriguing thanks to his incredible mixtapes and Youtube highlights.
Now we may have found our 2019 version of Williamson, this time a guard. Nico Mannion has been on college basketball fans’ radar for the last couple of years, especially after being featured as the “next big thing” on Sports Illustrated. He originally was supposed to be part of the 2020 class but now will be a part of NCAA Basketball a year early.
Players these days tend to reclassify a year earlier, but in this case, it makes sense. According to 247SportsComposite, Mannion’s move now makes it just three unsigned point guards for the 2019 class after DJ Carton committed to Ohio State this past week.
There’s going to be a ton of competition for Mannion to lead their respective teams next season. The Arizona native has already announced his top-10 list from June, with some notable names and a few surprises mixed in as well.
Considering that Mannion is a western-based basketball player, it’s not too surprising that half of the 10 teams hail from the Pac-12. The biggest omission might be Kentucky but the Wildcats already have five-star Tyrese Maxey coming in for 2019 so they won’t be crying too much.
As far as the other 10 teams, I’ll be giving a quick review of how Mannion possibly fits with the respective teams (alphabetically) and who might be a favorite for his services.