Nate Mason Chooses Minnesota

New Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino has added a second commit to his 2014 recruiting class with the news of shooting guard Nate Mason committing to Minnesota. Mason is a three star shooting guard that had just visited Minnesota two weeks ago. Besides Minnesota, Mason also held offers from Virginia, Kansas State and Clemson among others. Mason announced his decision this evening on Twitter:

I'm officially committed to a University of Minnesota! Go Golphers!!!!!! #blessed

— Nate Mason (@NateMason_2) October 25, 2013

According to the 247 Composite rankings of Mason, he comes in as the 34th best point guard in 2014 and the 174th overall 2014 prospect. Mason joins three star power forward Josh Martin, who committed at the end of September. The addition of Mason is important because Minnesota is set to lose several key guards, including Austin Hollins and Malik Smith.

While recruited as a point guard, Mason has the ability to play either the one or two and his versatility could be useful for Pitino in 2014. The combo guard brings quite a bit of speed to the table and has shown the ability to score throughout his high school career. While a point guard, his playing style would allow him to be used at the two if Minnesota looks elsewhere at the point. Either way, he's a valuable player for a unit that looks to be relatively thin in 2014.

Highlights of Mason are below: