This week's Alumni Spotlight is Nasir Mann, a who played Men's Basketball from 2021 to 2023. Mann is a local star, having been born and raised in Gainesville, Florida. Both Gainesville & basketball runs in the Mann family, as his older brother Tre currently plays in the NBA for the Charlotte Hornets. However, Nasir may not be far behind after his recent heroics in his conference championship game!

Mann came in with high expectations. He arrived at Santa Fe as a top 100 JUCO prospect in the nation, and at the time had an older brother playing at the University of Florida. The spotlight was undoubtedly on Mann, but that's exactly where he thrived. After a freshman season where he averaged a modest 6.2 points per game on great efficiency (37.5% from three), Mann exploded in year two. As a sophomore, he would contribute 14.4 points on 40.8% shooting from three and 45.4% from the field while chipping in 6.5 rebounds per game in 25 games started. After his JUCO eligibility was up, Mann transferred to McNeese State. While Mann had moved on, his legacy remained as he finished Second Team All-Conference while powering the Saints to their 8th conference title.

At McNeese State, Mann was able to contribute to a team competing at the highest level of college basketball. In 19.5 minutes per game across 4 games played, Mann put up 7.5 points per game and pulled down 6.0 rebounds. McNeese would go 26-5 in Mann's lone season as a Cowboy which culminated in a Southland Conference Championship title. The Cowboys would earn an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament as a #12 seed, but would lose in round 1 to Gonzaga. However, this would not be the last time Mann would get a chance to play in March Madness.

Mann would transfer again, this time to Queens University of Charlotte. He would find himself on the court much more at Queens, appearing in all 34 games while accumulating three starts. In his first season, Mann would average 6.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in 15.6 minutes of action per night. However, like his stint at Santa Fe, Mann would find his groove in his second year in the program.

This season, Mann is currently leading the Royals with 13.4 points per game shooting almost 50% from the field while grabbing 5.8 rebounds per game. Queens has been very successful this year and was able to make a push in the Atlantic Sun Conference for the title behind Mann's leadership.