Arizona Marvelous Ideas: Arizona target Nico Mannion reclassifies to 2019

The five-star point guard will begin his college career in 2019-20

Nico Mannion might be an Arizona Wildcat in one calendar year instead of two.

Friday, the five-star point guard announced his decision to reclassify from 2020 to 2019, meaning he will now begin his college career in 2019-20 instead of 2020-21. 247Sports first reported the news.

This is no surprise, as Mannion was open about his desire to reclassify and has been taking courses this summer to make the move possible.

The next step in Mannion’s recruitment is to narrow his list of potential destinations. In June, he cut his list to 10 schools — the Arizona Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils, Kansas Jayhawks, Oregon Ducks, Villanova Wildcats, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans, Utah Utes, Marquette Golden Eagles, and Vanderbilt Commodores.

Arizona is considered the favorite for Mannion. All 13 Crystal Ball predictions have him choosing the Wildcats.

UA assistants Danny Peters and Mark Phelps watched the in-state product Thursday at the West Coast Elite Summer Classic.

Mannion unofficially visited Arizona on May 30, which was just the latest of several visits he’s made to the school.

It would be a huge get for the UA, which is still looking for its first 2019 commit and is trying to rebound from the FBI probe that ravaged its 2018 recruiting efforts.

Mannion is now the No. 11 player in the 2019 class, per 247Sports. He averaged 23.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 2.0 steals at Pinnacle High School last season.

He made his debut for the Italian national team this summer.

Here are some of Mannion’s highlights from last week’s UA Challenge.