Gonzaga in final three for former Kentucky commit Nolan Hickman

Point guard Nolan Hickman, one of the top uncommitted recruits in the 2021 class, has trimmed his list to Gonzaga, Auburn and Kansas.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Hickman is rated No. 22 by ESPN and No. 42 by 247sports. The Seattle native played at Eastside Catholic in Sammamish, Washington, before finishing his prep career at Wasatch Academy in Utah.

Hickman is expected to make a final decision in a few weeks, his father, Nolan Sr., told CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. The Zags opened last season with wins over Kansas (102-90) and Auburn (90-67) in Fort Myers, Florida.

Hickman committed to Kentucky in August but asked for his release two weeks ago, shortly after two Wildcats assistants, including Tony Barbee, who had recruited Hickman, accepted jobs elsewhere.

The Zags have two open scholarships and they’ve been working on replenishing a backcourt that lost Jalen Suggs, Joel Ayayi, Aaron Cook and wing Corey Kispert.

Senior Andrew Nembhard is projected as the lead point guard. He’s joined by five-star recruit Hunter Sallis, sophomores Dominick Harris and Julian Strawther and Iowa State grad transfer Rasir Bolton.

Hickman had a strong performance at the Iverson Classic recently in Memphis, Tennessee.

“Hickman was one of the big stock boosters of the Iverson Classic thanks to the impressive combination of ball-handling, passing, shooting, defense and all-around IQ he displayed,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony tweeted.

Hickman was named Utah player of the year by MaxPreps, and he became the first Wasatch Academy player to be named to the McDonald’s All-American Game roster.

Hickman originally picked Kentucky over Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma and UCLA.