(Photo: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports)
OK, let’s just get this out of the way first in case anyone really was still wondering.
“We’re gonna lose Nico,” Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller said Tuesday.
Of course, UA point guard Nico Mannion has been expected to leave for the 2020 NBA draft since before he signed with Arizona over a year ago, but Miller confirmed it anyway Tuesday for the specific purpose of explaining why he went after Georgetown transfer James Akinjo for a second time last month.
Arizona officially announced Akinjo’s addition on Tuesday, giving next season’s Wildcats a replacement for Mannion, a lead guard to play alongside Jemarl Baker, incoming freshman Dalen Terry and possibly another high school recruit (five-star wing Ziaire Williams is still in the mix for the spring signing period).