Danny Manning, a basketball legend with vast coaching experience, joined the University of Louisville men’s basketball staff as associate head coach in April 2022. He has nearly nine years of head coaching experience at various schools and an extended period as interim head coach at Maryland last season. He was an assistant coach at Kansas for six years, where he helped the Jayhawks attain the 2008 NCAA Championship. Manning is also a member of the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, a two-time first-team All-American, the No. 1 overall selection in the 1988 NBA Draft, a two-time NBA All-Star, 1998 NBA Sixth Man of the Year, an NCAA Champion as a player and as an assistant coach, a three-time Division I head coach, and an Olympian.
Manning has guided two different schools to the NCAA Tournament and won a conference regular season and tournament title. His coaching career began as the Director of Student-Athlete Development/Team Manager at Kansas after retiring from professional basketball in 2003. Manning then spent nine seasons on the Jayhawks’ staff before moving to Tulsa, where he was named the 2013-14 Conference USA Coach of the Year and led the Golden Hurricane to the NCAA Tournament. At Wake Forest, he led the Demon Deacons to their first postseason appearance in seven seasons and received the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award.
Manning’s latest coaching experience came as an assistant coach at Maryland, where he became the interim head coach after Mark Turgeon’s departure in 2021. Maryland posted a 15-17 record with seven quad 1 and 2 wins, including four top 25 wins after playing 18 games against teams in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The Terrapins were 13-1 when leading with five minutes to play, with the lone loss coming at No. 3 Purdue.
At Louisville, Manning joins a staff where all three coaches have won an NCAA Championship as a player, and two have also won national titles as members of the coaching staff at their respective institutions. Payne won as a player at Louisville in 1986 and as an assistant coach at Kentucky in 2012. Smith won as a player at Duke in 2010.
In addition to his success on the collegiate level, Manning has been involved with USA Basketball. He served as an assistant coach on John Calipari’s staff of the U19 National Team and assisted Bill Self with the U18 National Team. He previously served as a court coach during U18 National Team training camps.
Manning’s impressive coaching career, coupled with his experience as a player, will undoubtedly benefit the Cardinals as they aim to compete at the highest level of college basketball.
