Incoming Wildcats Josh Green, Nico Mannion use their heads on, off court

ATLANTA — After the nation’s best high school basketball players finished a dunk contest during McDonald’s All-American Game week, they were treated to a fitting late-night spread.

Yes, McDonald’s.

But Gilbert Christian coach Kurt Keener, who directed UA signees Josh Green and Nico Mannion on the West squad last week, noticed that the two UA signees navigated the fast-food buffet carefully.

They ate salad, too.

“I’m not gonna say that guys don’t grab some fries,” Keener said. “But the kids I have back at Gilbert Christian, if I put a salad out as part of our pregame meal, two people might touch it.”

Because he has coached in Arizona, and with a club-ball organization that Green once played for, Keener knew Green and Mannion had some serious talent even before the West team started practicing for last Wednesday’s McDonald’s game.

But Keener didn’t know how serious their approach was until they were faced with actual McDonald’s that night and during lunch the next day, when Keener said both “followed up with a lot of salad” when offered a spread that included cold cuts, bread and bags of chips.

“It’s funny the things you look at, but you watch a group of high school kids go through a food line and if you see them eat a lot of salad, that means somebody talked to them about nutrition and things like that,” Keener said. “And both of those guys are like that. They take care of their bodies. They understand rest, taking an ice bath, and doing things like that.”

After Mannion and Green each scored eight points in the high school showcase, they made their approach clear in another way: They both spoke not just about the big stage they had played on, but about how difficult it was to find a rhythm in a game featuring frequent substitutions.

Mannion even said the practices were the best part.

“When we were practicing we were playing almost the whole time, so it was easy to get a feel for the game,” Mannion said. “The game was cool because there were a lot of people here and there were a lot of oohs and aahs, but the practices were probably the most fun.”

As it turned out, the game really didn’t mean much to basketball people, anyway. The NBA scouts who closely watched the McDonald’s players during three practices and a scrimmage last week were mostly gone before the actual game even began.

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While NBA personnel aren’t allowed to publicly discuss players before they enter the draft, ESPN analyst Mike Schmitz said both Mannion and Green have a lot to keep an eye on after he watched the practices last week.

Even if Mannion is sometimes underestimated because of his red hair and relatively normal physique.

“No question,” Schmitz said. “Initially, that’s something people look at. They see that he’s not super long. He’s not this and that. But when you really break down his game, I mean, the kid is a big time player, and he’s going to win a lot of basketball games in his career.”

While combo guard Cole Anthony received the McDonald’s game MVP, Schmitz said beforehand that he could make an argument that Mannion is the best point guard in the class of 2019 because of his feel for the game and a number of other reasons.

“He’s improved a ton as a shooter,” Schmitz said. “I think he’s sped up his release, and he’s tough. He has great instincts. And he’s not afraid — that’s what I like about him most, is that no matter the level of competition, he acts like he belongs. I think he does not have all the measureables that maybe pop off the screen, but he’s a really, really good basketball player.”

Quick and fluid at 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, Green has plenty of those measureables, although Schmitz said his outside shooting needs to start progressing.

“He’s obviously very physically gifted,” Schmitz said. “He’s got a great frame, long arms. He’s a good athlete, aggressive, straight-line driver type. He’s gonna look really good in the open court.”

The Wildcats didn’t always play on an open court last season. They ran at a below-average tempo, just the 226th fastest in Kenpom calculations, but Green’s presence could change that significantly.

Keener wouldn’t be surprised to see it happen.

Having coached players such as Chris Webber and Shane Battier at Michigan’s Country Day school before relocating to Gilbert six years ago, Keener said he’s known Miller and his system since Miller was at Xavier a decade ago.

“Nico will fit in very well. He has a super high basketball IQ,” Keener said. “As a point guard, he can score, he can facilitate. He can do everything that you want as a point guard. He’s a natural.

“And Josh is just a really good athlete. I know Sean, when he’s had those kind of elite players, he gives them the space and the freedom within their offense and defense to operate.

“I see both of them as guys who can come in and make significant contributions right away.”