The Colorado men’s basketball program is putting its name in the raffle for one of the country’s most underrated 2027 guards.
Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah) guard Mana Winitana is officially visiting the Buffaloes the weekend of Sept. 12, BuffStampede.com has learned.
Sure, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound guard is currently unranked, and any offers or visits have remained private; the upcoming visit to Boulder will be the first publicly known. However, after providing an important bench role for a top program in Wasatch Academy as a junior and making an All-Circuit team with the Utah Prospects in three of the four Nike EYBL 17U sessions this summer, Black-and-Gold fans should be excited about having Winitana on campus.
Before heading to Wasatch Academy, he starred at American Heritage High (American Fork, Utah). Winitana showed his scoring and playmaking as a top player in Utah’s Class 3A division. After transferring up, he has spaced the floor and played high-effort defense in a slightly different role.
Yet, this offseason is where he really shined.
In Nike EYBL 17U sessions I and III, he was an All-Circuit Third-Team selection. In the fourth session, he was a First-Team pick, averaging 18.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game in Las Vegas. While the Utah Prospects finished fifth in the Peach Jam, Winitana posted his best game against the Peach Jam’s Most Valuable Player and five-star guard Cayden Daughtry, posting 24 points, four rebounds and six assists in a losing effort; he was an All-Tournament Third-Team selection.
Naturally, Colorado is likely not the only school, even at the Power Four level, looking at one of Utah’s top 2027 players. Entering his senior season at Wasatch Academy, he will be taking on a high-priority role for head coach Paul Peterson and the Tigers.
Still, the Buffs are getting the young man on campus. And with his father, Pāora, being a former professional New Zealand basketballer, Winitana grew up in New Zealand, hailing from the same part of the world as CU assistant Nate Tomlinson and freshmen Alex Dickeson and Goc Malual.
CU has four players set to graduate after the season, including three likely starters, meaning the program will have some important holes to fill this recruiting period. Yet head coach Tad Boyle has said he’ll likely only sign one or two high school players on national signing day this fall.
Recruits Mentioned
