The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer.
When reading Greg Hansen’s Oct. 12 article, “UA star freshman Nico Mannion not short on athletic genes,” I was surprised that Hansen omitted any mention of Mannion’s mother, Gaia, a former professional athlete. The article focuses exclusively on the athletic background of Nico Mannion’s father, Pace, and male members of his family.
While Pace played professional basketball, Gaia played professional volleyball. She started playing volleyball at the professional level when she was 14 years old. Gaia had an illustrious professional career and even played on the Italian National Volleyball Team.
Hansen makes the point that “athletic genes run deep in the Mannion family: Nico’s uncle Greg played baseball at Cal State Fullerton and another uncle, John, played football at BYU.” However, he neglects to mention that Gaia’s family has an impressive athletic pedigree, as well. Her mother was a high jumper for Italy’s national junior team, and her brother played at a very high level of competitive soccer.
Gaia’s contributions to her son’s athletic development have not gone unnoticed by other sports journalists. Dario Costa of Sporting News wrote: “Nico grew up in Arizona, and showed signs of his hereditary talent from an early age. The way he approaches and picked up the game of basketball in such a natural way comes from his dad, while his athleticism and toughness are indisputably inherited from his mom. In the end, it’s the combination that matters and it works to perfection.”
Similarly, Chris Ballard of Sports Illustrated mentioned that “Nico’s impressive hops and competitive drive originate not from his NBA father but from his spiking, stomping mother.”
Greg Hansen was correct that Nico Mannion does not fall short on athletic genes, but he ignored that half of his DNA stems from his mother. Nico’s athleticism undoubtedly comes from both of his parents, two former professional athletes. When addressing Nico Mannion’s “athletic genes,” Hansen should have written about his entire genetic makeup, not just half.
