Nate Mason Jr. has always played with a chip on his shoulder.

Playing with that chip is the reason a number of schools were after the former Georgia High School hoopster. Mason weighed the options before committing to the University of Minnesota over the weekend. He selected the Gophers and its new coaching staff over Kansas State.

“The coaches and facilities made it for me,” Mason said. “Also, coach (Richard Pitino) is hungry to win. Who doesn’t want to play for a coach like that?”

Mason’s commitment ends a long draw out process for someone who had a strong summer basketball season. The 5-foot-11 point guard played with CP3 on the NIKE EYBL circuit averaging 12.7 points per game leading the North Carolina-based organization to the EYBL Finals. All of his production came off the bench as CP3 was loaded with some high talented players. Mason accepted his role.

After college coaches watched him play many were intrigued by the hard nose and tough-minded player, who refused to take the competition easy getting offers from Appalachian State, Clemson, Creighton, George Mason, Georgia State, Harvard, LaSalle, Lehigh, Memphis, Murray State, Rhode Island, SMU, Towson, UAB, William & Mary and Virginia. Mason struggled with narrowing his list before making his visit and making his decision. It was a weight lifted off of his shoulders.

“This was a lot of pressure off of me,” he said. “It (the recruiting process) was getting on my nerves some. It was stressful.”

Now that this is over, Mason can now focus on his final high school season, which had some interesting twist and turns since the end of the summer travel season. The former Shiloh High product transferred to Montrose Christian in September. Prior to that, he was at Columbia High where he won state championship. Now, Mason is at Arlington Country Day looking to make his mark once again on the national stage.

“We are trying to win a national championship,” he said.

Mason also wants to prove a lot of his naysayers and critics wrong. Those who have said he’s too small. He can’t run a team. He’s not strong enough. All those people have motivated him.

“I just drives me to take it out on the court,” Mason said. “I am going to lead this team and help us win a national championship. I will prove people wrong.”