LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville athletics announced on Friday that Danny Manning, who has served as a collegiate head or assistant coach for 15 years and is a well-known player in college basketball history, has joined the University of Louisville men’s basketball staff as associate head coach under the Cardinals’ first-year head coach Kenny Payne.
Manning has nearly nine years of head coaching experience, having coached for two seasons at Tulsa from 2012 to 2014, six at Wake Forest from 2014 to 2020 and an extended period as interim head coach at Maryland last season.
He was also an assistant coach at Kansas for six years from 2006 to 2012, where he helped the Jayhawks attain the 2008 NCAA Championship. Manning has guided two different schools to the NCAA Tournament and won a conference regular season and tournament title.
During the 2020-2021 season, Manning worked as an analyst for ESPN.
“Very rarely do you have an opportunity to hire a coach that encompasses all the experiences that a college basketball player goes through,” said Payne in a news release. “I’m so excited and thrilled to bring a family member, a friend and a coach who has lived a special life as both a player and a coach within the culture I’m trying to establish. Danny Manning is that and much more.”
Manning’s impressive basketball resume includes being 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.
“I am very fortunate, blessed and excited to be part of the City of Louisville, The University of Louisville, and Louisville Basketball with Coach Payne,” Manning said. “I have spent a lot of fun time watching the Louisville Basketball program dating back to the Metro Conference Tournament. I have been fortunate to watch many people around basketball in my career. KP is someone that I have always admired for his work ethic, knowledge of the game, and passion for helping young men reach their dreams and doing things the right way. I am blessed that he has given me this chance to continue working with young men, impacting their lives on and off the court, and helping them reach their dreams. I am equally excited to work with Nolan Smith, as his father was a mentor to me and Kenny. Derek helped show me the ropes of high-level basketball.”
All three coaches currently on the UofL staff have won an NCAA Championship as a player, and two have also won national titles as a member of the coaching staff at their respective institutions: Payne as a player at Louisville in 1986 and as an assistant coach at Kentucky in 2012; Manning as a player at Kansas in 1988 and as an assistant coach when the Jayhawks won the title in 2008; and UofL assistant coach Nolan Smith as a player at Duke when the Blue Devils won the 2010 championship.
During his time on staff at Kansas, Manning was a part of one NCAA national title, two Final Fours, five NCAA Elite Eight appearances, eight Big 12 regular-season conference titles, five Big 12 tournament championships and 269 career victories. During his five-year tenure as an assistant coach, Kansas went 164-24.
Besides coaching at the collegiate level, Manning has been involved on the international level with USA Basketball. Then, in 2017, he spent the summer as an assistant coach on John Calipari’s staff of the U19 National Team. In 2018, he assisted Bill Self with the U18 National Team. He previously served as a court coach during U18 National Team training camps.
He has also been mentored by John Calipari with the USA U19 National Team.
Manning had a legendary playing career at the University of Kansas, where his No. 25 jersey is retired. He is Kansas’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder, finishing his four-year career with 2,951 points and 1,187 rebounds. The No. 12 scorer in NCAA history, Manning was named a consensus first-team All-American selection in 1987 and 1988, the consensus College Player of the Year in 1988 and a three-time Big Eight Conference Player of the Year (1986, 1987, 1988).
Recognized for all of his accomplishments on the court, Manning was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on November 23, 2008.
Manning played 15 seasons in the NBA for seven different professional teams—the Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons. He averaged 14.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game during his NBA career, spanning 883 total games and 12,367 career points. Manning was a two-time NBA All-Star (1993, 1994) and won the league’s Sixth Man of the Year Award with Phoenix in 1998. During his playing days, Manning was a representative for the NBA Players Association. He is currently a member of the NBA Retired Players Association.
Manning and his wife, Julie, have two children—a daughter Taylor, who played volleyball at Kansas, and a son Evan, who played basketball at Kansas and is currently a graduate assistant with the Gonzaga men’s basketball program.