Kansas Great Danny Manning To Be Promoted to Assistant Coach at KU Following 2006-07 Season
March 20, 2007
SAN JOSE, Calif. –
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Kansas head basketball coach Bill Self announced Tuesday that KU legend Danny Manning will be promoted to assistant coach at the conclusion of the 2006-07 season.
Manning will replace Tim Jankovich, who was named head coach at Illinois State on Tuesday. A member of the Kansas basketball staff since Self’s arrival in 2003-04, Manning has served as director of student-athlete development/team manager at Kansas for the past four seasons.
“When I first accepted the position at the University of Kansas, one of the first things I wanted to do was to convince Danny Manning to be part of our staff,” Self said. “Upon his retirement from the NBA, we visited with him on becoming a recruiting coach. At that time, he felt it was not timely for him to be away from home and his family.”
“He has sacrificed by doing many jobs within the office and has primarily been a great role model for all of our student-athletes and our program. It’s not often you can have one of the greatest college players in NCAA college basketball history on you staff and be just as interested in helping our student-athletes as he was in scoring baskets.”
“Although it’s always tough for a good coach and friend to leave, it’s certainly been a blessing to have a guy on staff that is ready to step into that role. Although Danny’s responsibilities will not change until after the season, this is something we knew would take place once one of our three recruiting coaches moved on.”
One of the greatest players in Kansas basketball history, Manning is Kansas’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder, racking up 2,951 points and 1,187 boards in his illustrious four-year career. Manning, the eighth all-time leading scorer in NCAA history, was named a consensus first-team All-America selection in 1987 and 1988, the consensus College Player of the Year in 1988 and he was a three-time Big Eight Conference Player of the Year (1986, 1987 and 1988).
Manning was named the 1988 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player en route to leading the Jayhawks to an 83-79 victory over Oklahoma for the 1988 national championship — KU’s most recent title. He was also named the MVP of the NCAA Midwest Regional in 1986 and 1988.
“I’m very excited to be promoted to an assistant coach with the University of Kansas men’s basketball program,” Manning said. “This is the place I want to be and I’m looking forward to expanding my role as a teacher on and off the court to the student-athletes here at KU.”
“The last four years have been a great learning experience for me. Being a part of and helping to run the day-to-day operations of the office — from the handling of gear to academics to making road trip arrangements — I’ve gained much-need experience and knowledge.
“Being around Coach Self, Norm [Roberts], Tim [Jankovich], Kurtis [Townsend] and Joe [Dooley] have been very enlightening with their knowledge of coaching, recruiting and overall knowledge of the business. I will continue to lean on these outstanding individuals as I find my way around the coaching profession. Lew Perkins and his administrative staff have also been very accommodating with an open door policy to come in and share any thoughts, concerns and questions.”
“I would like to thank all the coaches and friends in the profession who have reached out to me and offered advice. I’d also like to thank the Jayhawk nation for their continued support. My family and I love being a part of the community of Lawrence and the University of Kansas.”
“I feel prepared for the challenge ahead and I look forward to being an assistant coach at the University of Kansas.”
The No. 1 overall pick in the 1988 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, Manning played for seven different teams — the Clippers, Hawks, Suns, Bucks, Jazz, Mavericks and Pistons. He boasts averages of 14.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game over his NBA career, spanning 883 total games. Manning was a two-time NBA All-Star (1993 and 1994), and won the league’s Sixth Man Award in 1998.
Manning and his wife, Julie, are both graduates of Kansas. They have two children — daughter, Taylor, and son, Evan.
