COLUMBIA, Mo. • Reed Nikko couldn’t help but think of his late father on Monday when he made the biggest decision in his young sports career. The 6-10 center from Minnesota lost his first basketball coach to a fatal heart attack two years ago. On Monday, when Nikko committed to Missouri’s 2016 recruiting class, he posted a message on Twitter thanking coaches, friends and family, notably, Russell Nikko, who died in June 2013.
“I know he’s looking down on me right now and I'm sure he’s proud,” Nikko said in a phone interview. “But a lot of what I’ve done the past two and a half years has been for him.