Nuno morphing from Cougar to Viking

Putting an area on the basketball map of sorts is quite the feat but that's what Half Moon Bay High and Coastside basketball program member Rico Nuno has done.

At 6-foot-6, Nuno was the prime component in Coach Rick Forslund's Cougars finishing the 2013-14 season at 26-7, 12-0 in the Peninsula Athletic League North. His production was acknowledged with the bestowing of Most Valuable Player honors.

Then Coastside won the recent Bay Area Memorial Day Classic.  In fact, that tournament championship stands out as Nuno's best basketball moment. " We were playing with our high school team which included a couple of freshman." His brother Tommy, a junior-to-be, senior-to-be Case DuFrane, graduating senior Corey Cilia and himself were the integral components in what many would call the upsetting of six straight teams.

When asked what his best basketball skill is, Nuno replied, "My basketball IQ," which is a trait generally associated with point guards, not frontcourters.

As for his accumulation of acumen, Nuno credited two elements: "I watch basketball every chance I get, college, NBA and high school." That and "when the coaches are talking, I listen."

In addressing his evolution on the court from his freshman year on, Nuno explained, "I was more goofy and less focused [as an underclassman]. But in the last two years, I've worked hard to get mentally ready for games. I've worked to become a role model and leader for the other players on the team."

Nuno credits three people as his biggest basketball influences.

"My younger brother because he started playing before I did. I would go to his games and I started thinking, 'I'll try it too'. Plus, John Parsons (the Coastside head coach) and Rich Forslund (the Half Moon Bay Varsity head coach) because you can see they really love and have a deep passion for the sport."

He played other sports but just for a while. Both the diamond and gridiron lost him because  "baseball is too slow and, with football, I had a bad experience."

Now Nuno is moving on to Diablo Valley College (DVC).

Why that choice?

"I was impressed and felt comfortable with the coach at Diablo Valley College. Steve Coccimiglio is a lot like my high school coach. He'll help me grow as a player and person."

Nuno hasn't decided on a major as yet but has taken a liking to the culinary arts program at DVC.

The Vikings program doesn't need any basketball map-putting so Nuno will be content with doing whatever it takes to make DVC successful.