Nico Mannion is just seventeen years old, but he waits for no one. When trying to outline a story that has only just begun, it’s actually easiest to start from the end, or more accurately, from its most recent chapter. Nico Mannion’s journey as a basketball player is in its infancy, but his recent decision to reclassify from the class of 2020 to 2019 already looks like a milestone.

Thanks to his immaculate academic record, Nico has taken advantage of the possibility to graduate one year early and take the big leap from high school to college next spring. All the best basketball programs in the country have already shown interest in him, with Arizona and Duke seen to be the current front-runners, though no one in Mannion’s inner circle is giving anything away.