The son of a former University of Utah and Utah Jazz basketball player is gaining attention for his hoops skills.
Nico Mannion is the son of Pace Mannion, who starred at Utah from 1979-83 and played for the Jazz in the mid-1980s. Nico Mannion, who once lived in Salt Lake City and now resides in Phoenix, was recently featured in a longform article by Sports Illustrated's Chris Ballard.
Mannion has become an Instagram sensation and, at age 15, is attracting attention from colleges. Ballard highlights Mannion's unique recruiting in the age of social media.
"While most boys drift through this awkward stage in thankful anonymity, Nico’s relative specialness, in tandem with the era of social media and the overzealous, ethically questionable nature of prep-athlete recruiting, sets him apart, making him a quasi-celebrity.