Manning in no rush to face Jayhawks in Maui

By Gary Bedore     Jul 28, 2015

Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning directs his team against Georgia Tech during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Winston-Salem, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

The leading scorer and rebounder in Kansas University basketball history, who has earned NCAA championship rings at KU as a player and coach, is in no hurry to oppose his alma mater.

“Being on different sides of the bracket (is something) I’m very happy and thankful for,” second-year Wake Forest coach/former KU All-American Danny Manning said Tuesday after learning his Demon Deacons would meet Indiana in the first round of the 2015 Maui Invitational, while KU will tangle with Chaminade at 8 p.m., Nov. 23 in Lahaina Civic Center.

If KU wins, it would meet either UNLV or UCLA at 9 p.m., Nov. 24. Meanwhile, a Wake victory would put the Deacons in a semifinal contest versus St. John’s or Vanderbilt. KU and Wake will not meet until the third and final day of the tourney, if at all.

“My son (Evan) plays on Bill’s team. That’s one reason,” Danny Manning said of not wanting to play KU and coach Bill Self. “I spent a lot of time with coach Self. He gave me my break in the coaching profession (working for Self nine years). I think the world of him. I’m just glad we’re not on the same side of the bracket. Wake Forest is my favorite college basketball team, but a close second is Kansas mainly because my son is there right now.”

KU, which has placed second (2011) and seventh (2006) in the Invitational during the Self era, is 2-0 all-time versus Chaminade, beating the Silverswords in 1987 (with Manning on the team) and in 2006 with Manning as assistant coach.

“I’m actually glad they put Danny and me in opposite brackets,” Self said. “He and I talked about it and he’s pretty happy about that, too. If we make it to the finals, that would be great for both of us, but I wouldn’t be excited about playing Wake and I don’t think he’d be excited about playing Kansas.”

Obviously a meeting in the Maui finals would be acceptable to all coaches involved.

“You never want to go against family, you really don’t, but you don’t mind going against family when it’s in a championship situation,” said KU assistant coach Norm Roberts. “Being that if we are both in the championship game, everybody is happy that they’ve played well. Then I think once the game starts you just start playing the game. Danny is a guy that is beloved here at Kansas. Everyone loves Danny. I had a chance to work with Danny. Obviously his son, Evan, is a tremendous part of our team. Leading up to the game, there may be some things (media buildup). Everybody understands it’s a basketball game. It’s not life. I think everybody would have fun just competing,” Roberts added.

Self on the eight-team event: “You have storied programs and programs that are right on the verge of doing something great. When I studied the bracket, I really pointed out what a great field it was. We’ll play Chaminade, which is not a ‘gimme game’ by any stretch, in the first round. I’m sure we’ll be talking to our players about Virginia (top-ranked team lost to Chaminade in 1982) many years ago before we play. Then the second-round matchup, we’re either going to play UCLA or UNLV. UNLV gave us all we wanted last year in the fieldhouse (in KU’s 76-61 win) and UCLA has been to back-to-back Sweet 16s, so it’s good. I know our guys are looking forward to it.”

Giant killers: NCAA Div. II Chaminade has won seven games in the 31-year history of the event. Chaminade beat Texas in 2012 and Oklahoma in 2010.

“I talk with Dave Odom (tourney chair) throughout the year and for four years now I’ve said, ‘Hey, why don’t you match us up against’ … and I’ll list two or three teams,” said fifth-year Chaminade coach Eric Bovaird. “This year I only listed one team. I said, ‘Please don’t put us against Kansas in the first game.’ I’m going to try to use reverse psychology on him for the rest of the years.

“It’s going to take a miracle for us to even play with those guys,” Bovaird added. “We’ve got nothing to lose. Everybody in the world will vote against us. We look at it as a challenge and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

This, that: The KU-Chaminade game will be on ESPNU. If KU wins it would play at 9 p.m., Central time, Nov. 24, on ESPN. No game time has been set for the final yet. … Overall, the Jayhawks are 10-6 in the Maui Invitational and won the 1996 tourney with Raef LaFrentz MVP. … KU will meet Northern Colorado on Nov. 13 inside Allen Fieldhouse as part of the opening games schedule of the Invitational. … KU has defeated Chaminade twice in Maui — 89-62, in the first game of the 1987 Invitational and 102-54 in its third game of the 2005 Invitational. KU went 1-2 in Maui in ’87 and 1-2 again in ’05. … Two players who participated for SE Elite in last week’s Sunflower Showcase will attend this year’s Late Night in the Phog. They are Wyatt Wilkes, a 6-8 forward from Winter Park (Florida) High, and Chaundee Brown, 6-5 from Phillips High in Orlando. Both are currently unranked in the Class of 2017.

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