Could former KU great Danny Manning be a head coaching candidate at Wichita State?

By Matt Tait     Nov 11, 2020

article image
FILE — Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning, second from left, talks to his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball against Tennessee in Winston-Salem, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

For the past few weeks, former Kansas great Danny Manning has been linked to a handful of NBA assistant coaching gigs.

But Tuesday night, the landscape changed dramatically and Manning’s name resurfaced at the college level.

With reports indicating that Wichita State and head coach Gregg Marshall are expected to part ways by the end of the week, Manning’s name is one that has come up in conversations about who might replace Marshall.

The longtime WSU coach who led the Shockers to an average of 25 wins per season in 13 years in charge of the program appears to be headed out the door after reports of verbal and physical abuse from several former players and assistant coaches were brought to light in recent articles written by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman and The Athletic’s Dana O’Neil and C.J. Moore.

The program is in position to attract several quality replacements, and Manning could be one of them.

Chris Lilly, of KAKE TV in Wichita, tweeted on Wednesday morning that sources had told him that WSU had reached out to Manning about the job.

Whether Manning is interested or if those efforts to reach him were successful remains another question entirely. But it’s worth noting given Manning’s popularity in the Sunflower State and his ties to Kansas as both a legendary player and former Bill Self assistant.

Fired by Wake Forest in April after six years in charge of the Demon Deacons program, Manning, 54, has become a popular name in NBA circles as new coaches in new places look to fill out their coaching staffs.

Reports of interest in Manning from Oklahoma City, Indiana and New Orleans have surfaced in the past couple of weeks and there also has been talk of Manning joining the broadcasting ranks for the 2020-21 basketball season.

Whatever happens, it’s clear that KU’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder has no shortage of options just six months after being let go by Wake Forest.

Prior to his time with Wake, Manning was the head coach at Tulsa for two seasons after leaving Kansas following the Jayhawks’ run to the 2012 national title game.

Manning was Self’s staff at Kansas for nine seasons. He helped lead the Jayhawks to the 2008 national championship, two Final Four appearances, five trips to the Elite Eight and eight Big 12 regular-season titles.

PREV POST

Affidavit alleges Silvio De Sousa hit man who told him to shut up; man lost vision in one eye

NEXT POST

55089Could former KU great Danny Manning be a head coaching candidate at Wichita State?

Author Photo

Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.