Kurt KragthorpeThe University of Utah was among the basketball programs that missed prized recruit Nico Mannion’s cut to four schools Saturday, according to his announcement via Instagram.
Mannion, a son of former Ute and Jazz guard Pace Mannion, reduced his list to Duke, Villanova, Arizona and Marquette. The Pac-12's USC, UCLA and Oregon also fell out of the running for the 6-foot-2 guard from Pinnacle High School in Phoenix.
Mannion, who turned 17 in March, recently reclassified to graduate in 2019 and is ranked No. 17 in that class by 247Sports as a five-star prospect. Playing as a sophomore in 2017-18, he averaged 23.4 points, 5.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds for Pinnacle.
Duke, Villanova and Arizona were widely expected to make Mannion’s top four; Marquette was a surprising inclusion. At Marquette, he potentially would team with guard Koby McEwen, a Wasatch Academy alumnus who will redshirt this season after transferring from Utah State.
Kurt Kragthorpe has worked continuously for daily newspapers in Utah since 1977. He moved to The Tribune in 1990 and had a nine-year stint as sports editor, in between writing assignments that have included six Olympic Games, as well as several Super Bowls and major golf tournaments. Kurt and his wife, Sandra, enjoy traveling nationally and interna