The 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.
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