Maryland men’s basketball has its man for one of its coaching vacancies. The Terps hired former Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning as an assistant, the team announced Monday morning.
Manning replaces DeAndre Haynes, who left last week to take an assistant coaching role at Marquette. But Manning already has familiarity with the lead member of Maryland’s staff.
“I’m thrilled to add Danny to our coaching staff,” Turgeon said in a statement. “I cannot say enough about him as a coach and as a human being. He has seen it all in the game of basketball and will bring unparalleled experience to our program.”
Head coach Mark Turgeon was teammates with Manning at Kansas from 1984-1987, and Turgeon was on staff as an assistant with the Jayhawks when Manning turned in a Wooden Award-winning season in 1987-88.
After an illustrious playing career, Manning served as a manager and assistant at his alma mater for nine seasons. He became Bill Self’s right-hand man and played a critical role in developing Kansas’ big men, ultimately helping them win a national title in 2008.
[Maryland men’s basketball adds Ian Martinez, loses Jairus Hamilton to transfer portal]
In 2012, Manning took the head coaching gig at Tulsa, before moving on to Wake Forest two years later. He made the NCAA tournament once with the Demon Deacons but struggled to find success otherwise in his six seasons in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
After a year off, Manning is back on the bench, and his skills as a coach of bigs will be critical to the Terps’ success. Maryland played all of last season without a true center, rotating Donta Scott, Jairus Hamilton and Galin Smith out of position in the frontcourt role against the Big Ten’s more imposing big men.
But Turgeon landed Georgetown transfer center Qudus Wahab earlier in April, who is expected to start immediately and transform the frontcourt. Under Manning, his potential ceiling could be even higher than it is now — and so too could the Terps’ postseason prospects.
“I’m looking forward to reuniting with [Turgeon],” Manning said in a statement. “We have known each other for quite some time and been through a lot of battles together over the years. I am excited to help Coach build on the success he has had at Maryland.”
