Tre Mann has scribbled down goals his whole basketball career and then willed himself to check them off.
All of his dreams of becoming a productive high school basketball player, a McDonald’s All-American and a contributor at a big Division I university came true.
But the most recent slash on Mann’s list is the most important of them all: making it to the NBA.
Recently in New York, Mann, a class of 2019 graduate of The Villages High School and former Florida Gator, was taken 18th overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, fulfilling yet another longtime dream as a first-round pick of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Mann, a 6-foot-5 point guard with an arsenal of ball-handling techniques and a deadeye three-point shot, is the first VHS alumnus to be picked into the NBA since 2013.
More than 100 admirers of Mann and the Buffalo basketball program gathered inside the Old Mill Playhouse at Lake Sumter Landing Market Square to witness the draft.
“I’m feeling all the emotions right now,” said Albert Mann, Tre’s father. “I’m very proud and thankful. (I’m) also very humbled because every kid I know has said, ‘I’m going to play in the NBA,’ and the reality is it just doesn’t happen.”
”As a dad, I just sit back and reflect a lot,” Albert continued. “Out of all the kids in the world, God has chosen my son to be in this moment.”
At his draft party in New York, Mann told family and friends, “I just want to thank all of you for coming. All of you played a big part in all of this, and you all are here for a reason. We’re not done yet.”
Mann, a Gainesville native, didn’t waste any time in establishing himself in The Villages.
Mann averaged 16 points per game as a freshman with the Buffalo Bills before averaging 20.5 points per game as a sophomore.
During the summer before his junior year, the prospective NBA draftee’s stock skyrocketed, thanks to his participation in Nike’s traveling team circuit, which preceded a further 20-point-per-game season at VHS.
Mann climbed to No. 31 in ESPN’s national player rankings for the class of 2019 before recording a career-high 23.6 points per game in his senior year, earning him a spot in the renowned McDonald’s All-American Game in Atlanta.
Mann finished his VHS career as the program’s all-time greatest scorer, tallying 2,327 points in a Buffalo uniform, one of eight individual records he has.
“Our program is built off working hard, serving others and having fun … There’s not a player that’s ever been a symbol of that more,” VHS head basketball coach Colt McDowell said of Mann. “I’m just eternally grateful that he was part of our program for four years, and I hope our younger guys have taken notes on what players like him have been about — because none of this comes overnight.”
Mann averaged 10.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 53 games — 28 starts — throughout his two seasons in Gainesville after pledging to play for his hometown Florida Gators.
Mann also improved his scoring average from 5.3 points per game as a freshman to 16.0 points per game as a sophomore last winter, the greatest single-season rise by a Florida player in the last 25 years, on his way to All-SEC honors.
“We’re not replacing Tre … It’s just not going to happen,” said Mike White, University of Florida men’s basketball head coach. “His ability, his big-shot ability — as unique of an ability I would put up against anyone else in the draft.”
Mann made his Thunder debut in the 2021 NBA Summer League. The Thunder’s preseason opener is planned for Oct. 4 versus Charlotte.
“He’s a pick-and-roll scorer. He’s got a good pull-up game, and he can handle it,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said on-air. “He is a shooter that can handle, and I think he’s got the opportunity to be a really good defender, as well.”
