Reed Nikko, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound rising senior center from Maple Grove (MN) High, who is considered one of the state’s top players from the Class of 2016, picked up an offer from Minnesota, Iowa and UC-Santa Barbara over the past few weeks.
Nikko helped lead Maple Grove to a 23-4 record as a junior, losing 77-62 to Wayzata in the second round of the Section 5AAAA playoffs. Nikko averaged 9.4 points per game with a season-best 19 points against Apple Valley. He scored in double figures in 15 of 27 games.
Gopher Hole caught up with Nikko at the Bracket Buster in Maple Grove to learn the latest on his recruitment.
Gopher Hole: You got back recently from a busy summer. How do you think that the summer went overall?
Reed Nikko: Overall, I think that we did pretty good. We finished with a winning record. I think that we are fairly highly regarded in the state. We didn’t finish quite the way that we would have liked to in our last couple of tournaments, but overall, a pretty good season.
Gopher Hole: The next day after I talked to you for a recent story, you picked up an offer from Iowa. Have you picked up any other offers since then?
Reed Nikko: Yes. UC Santa Barbara actually offered me a couple of days ago.
Gopher Hole: Have you thought about trying to make some visits before school starts or are you going to wait until school or have you even thought that far yet?
Reed Nikko: I’ll probably start thinking about it soon. As of now, I don’t have anything planned or scheduled or anything like that. Definitely, we’ll start thinking about it soon, so I can get that scheduled.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, you have been playing with your AAU team a lot this summer, but you played well in the Bracket Buster with your Maple Grove team. That has to make you feel pretty good since you haven’t been together a lot this summer.
Reed Nikko: We have still done workouts throughout the summer. This group has played together for a few years, so we know where each other is going to be. There isn’t that much new. That being said, we still have to get back in the gym. That were still some obvious points where we looked rusty, so I think that if we clean those things up and we play the way that we played last year and keep building on it, I think that we will have a pretty good year.
Gopher Hole: Have you thought much more on a timetable when you would make a decision? Have you thought about that?
Reed Nikko: No. Not really. Right now, I am just focused on just trying to recover from the summer and get back to full strength and then work on lifting and polishing my skills for high school.
Gopher Hole: You are going to be going into your senior season soon. It has gone by pretty quickly, right?
Reed Nikko: It has gone by fast. I’m looking forward to it, but at the same time, it is kind of sad. I just want to go out with a bang, I guess. That is the biggest goal.
Gopher Hole: You realize that this is your last chance to make it to state. You guys have come close, but haven’t gotten there yet.
Reed Nikko: The stakes are definitely raised a little bit this year. We feel that this is really our time this year. That we really have the team to do it. We all feel like we have the opportunity and the right pieces that we can really make a good run. Get to state and we also feel like we can make a shot for the title this year. We think that we have the pieces and I think that we have a good opportunity to do so.
Gopher Hole: Having played so well this summer, do you think that confidence is really paying off because it seems like you are playing a lot more aggressive since the last time I saw you play?
Reed Nikko: Yes. I would say maybe not so much confidence as I feel a lot more comfortable. I just feel a lot more comfortable having the ball in my hands on offense. Taking aggressive moves. Being more of a leader on the court and I think a lot of that is maturity and a lot of that is experience, but I think that has definitely helped my game for the better.
Gopher Hole: We talked about that Gopher offer. Do you have any plans to go down there in the next couple of weeks or have you talked to them much since you got back?
Reed Nikko: I haven’t talked to them yet, so we’ll see. I would probably assume that I would try to visit there, but I have to say that I don’t really have anything like that planned out or set.