Ex-Wildcat Nico Mannion will have to carve own path

With former Arizona Basketball star Nico Mannion now finding himself in the NBA G-League, the Ex-Wildcat will have to create his path. 

It has been quite an interesting past couple of years for former Wildcat Nico Mannion. Considered a budding star from just up the road in Phoenix at Pinnacle High School just a few years ago, the former five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American came to Tucson last year with high expectations and hopes.

However, as we all saw, in his time at Arizona, the results were sort of mixed. Appearing in and starting all 32 games for the Cats, the then true freshman saw some success, averaging 14.0 points and 5.2 assists per game.

Arizona Wildcats

On paper, the stats look solid, but depending on which fan(s) you ask, many felt he looked a bit inconsistent at times (see team results), and it was perhaps clear that Nico would have benefitted from another year in college. Alas, Mannion had other plans, and the rest, as they say, was history.

Bolting immediately for the league, things wouldn’t quite pan out the way that he had hoped, as Nico would see his NBA stock fall precipitously.

Falling to the No. 48 overall pick in the delayed 2020 Draft, the “fall from grace” has seemingly put him squarely behind the eight-ball so to speak. And the road ahead for Mannion has been and will continue to be a challenging one.

Perhaps luckily for him, he landed in about the best situation possible, with NBA perennial power, the Golden State Warriors.

So far, Nico has appeared in six games of the abbreviated 2020-21 NBA season, averaging just 1.5 points and 2.0 assists in just 6.0 minutes played per game. However, as we all know, if young players want to develop this league, they need more in-game reps and opportunities to play and receive that development.

Well as you could imagine, Mannion needed minutes and the Warriors have since assigned him to the organizations’ G-League affiliate team, the San Jose Warriors.

Since joining the ball clubs’ G-League team, his production has been much better! In four games, Mannion is averaging 21.3 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game.

And just before his arrival with San Jose, Mannion sat down with the guys at 1 Star Recruits podcast to discuss the move, and according to the Arizona Daily Star, Nico had this to say:

"“For me, it’s getting those real game-like reps against pros. Looking at the rosters, there’s some vets down here and there’s a lot of talent. So getting those game reps I think I’ll just be even more comfortable headed back to Golden State.”"

With Nico Mannion waiting for his opportunity with Golden State again, the rookie will need to create his path in the league.

Thus far, Nico is seemingly making the most of his opportunities, and it helps he has a great support system around him.

As you may recall, his father (Pace) played in the league for six years, and his head coach is none other than Steve Kerr. A former Wildcat and one-time collegiate star that made a name for himself being a key role player from 1989-03.

At 19, Nico is one of the youngest players in the league (remember, he graduated and came to Tucson a year early), plus he has the talent to stay in this league for a while. However, how he responds to adversity now and how he makes the most of his opportunities is going to be crucial in his development over the next few years.

As for now, Nico will have to continue to stay hungry, meanwhile carving out his path. To me, it starts by finding success with more reps in the G-League, and so far, it seems he is off to a good start…