Kansas University basketball legend Danny Manning received quite the introduction earlier this year when he arrived in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to take over the Wake Forest program.
After a two-year stop at Tulsa, Manning rode onto Wake’s campus with a 38-29 career record as a head coach and one NCAA Tournament berth (in 2014).
Still settling in at his new home, the Demon Deacons’ coach took some time recently to talk with [Chip Patterson, of CBSsports.com, for the site’s “New Faces, New Places” series][1].
In the Q & A, Manning credited three men with shaping his coaching style:
• his father, Ed
• his coach at KU, Larry Brown, the current head coach at SMU
• the man who gave him his intro to coaching, Jayhawks coach Bill Self
Patterson asked Wake’s new head man to describe his personal basketball philosophy.
> “What’s good for the team is good for
> you. And that’s just the mentality
> that we have to have. I think Coach
> Self talked about it all the time,
> ‘The pie is big enough for everybody
> if we do it the right way.’ Ten years
> from now, what will the legacy of that
> team be? There are certain instances
> where people say, ‘Hey I remember when
> Randolph Childress scored 35 points
> per game in the ACC Tournament and
> Wake Forest won.’ That’s a great
> moment. That’s a great memory. But you
> talk to Randolph and he’ll talk about,
> ‘We had a good bunch of guys on the
> team and everybody sacrificed for each
> other and we did it for each other’ or
> ‘Coach (Dave) Odom really had us
> playing at a high clip.’ Those are the
> memories that you cherish as a former
> member of the team.”
Though Wake Forest failed to reach the NCAA Tournament each of the past four seasons (which included three straight losing records before going 17-16 in 2013-14), clearly Manning is embracing the program’s history.
http://twitter.com/CoachDManning/status/474690526143594496
That’s the right approach to take at any school that has produced pro players everybody knows, such as San Antonio’s five-time NBA champion Duncan and Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul. But Manning, of course, still wants to find more concrete ways to connect with his players at Wake Forest. He said he shares his array of playing experiences — ups and downs — in order to do so.
> “As a player, I’ve been the guy that’s
> been called upon to start and score
> points. I’ve been a starter, a
> facilitator, I’ve been sixth man, I’ve
> been a rotation guy, I’ve been a
> non-rotation guy, I’ve been injured.
> I’ve had every role on a team
> throughout my career that you can
> have. So I can relate to each
> individual on our team. I’m not sure
> exactly how that particular person is
> feeling, but I’ve got a pretty good
> idea.”
And he knows when offseason efforts need to be rewarded.
http://twitter.com/CoachDManning/status/480369868873560064
Manning also spoke about the importance of academics (and having something to fall back on when basketball is over), returning to North Carolina (where he grew up) and his thoughts on the state of college transfers and the rules surrounding them.
He shared that Self, who hired him at KU once his NBA career concluded, taught him a great deal about the world of coaching.
> “Coach Self provided a great
> opportunity for me, created a spot for
> me, to get started and work my way up.
> I got a chance to see what the
> managers go through, what the trainers
> go through, what the medical staff
> goes through, then you move up to
> director of ops-type things. All that,
> up to assistant coach, has been very
> beneficial to me.”
Manning described the support since his arrival as “overwhelming.” One might say he is happy to be at Wake Forest.
[1]: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24602454/new-faces-new-places-wake-forests-danny-manning-on-coaching-influences-transfers-more
