NCAA Basketball: 7 players vital for their teams in 2018-19
Sterling Manley – North Carolina
Sterling Manley may not be the first name that comes to mind when talking about North Carolina in 2018-19, but the 6-11 sophomore could play a key role in any run the Tar Heels make.
The native of Pickerington, Ohio was rated as a three-star and top-five recruit in the state by 247Sports, Rivals.com and ESPN. For top-level recruits, their junior season is an important one, as it leads to the final summer of AAU games. The 230lb. Manley had turmoil galore during his, he broke his right leg in September and was able to rehab in time to get on the floor. He would play in his team’s first dozen or so games before he would have to face another roadblock. In February he suffered the same injury, a broken tibia, this time in his left leg. Despite the injuries, Division I schools was still interested in the big man.
His senior year at Pickerington he led his team to the state semifinals, after registering 23 points, nine rebounds and four blocks in a regional final win. On the season scored 16 points and grabbed over eight rebounds as a senior.
Manley ended up with offers from schools all over the map, from Akron and Northern Kentucky to Purdue and West Virginia. How the energetic ended up at Chapel Hill was a bit of happenstance, according to this report, UNC women’s coach Sylvia Hatchell was at Pickerington recruiting another player when Jonathan Hedgepeth, the Pickerington women’s coach used the opportunity to get a recruiting tape of Manley to the Tar Heel staff.
Once he arrived on campus he was one of four newcomers that stood between 6-9 and 6-11. Manley and fellow freshman Garrison Brooks were the only two to average double-digit minutes in their first season. Manley averaged just 10 minutes per game but appeared in all 37 games for the Heels. He started his college career with a bang by averaging 12.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in the first two games last season, including a 16-point 13-rebound effort against Bucknell.
He also finished his season on a high note with six points and 10 rebounds in the team’s first-round win over Lipscomb in the NCAA Tournament. Manley ended the season averaging 5.4 points and 3.6 rebounds and led the team in field goal percentage (minimum 100 attempts) at 56.6%. He also was fourth on the team in offensive rebounds with 39.
Manley is an old-school center that likes to spend most of his time down low but has developed a bit of a mid-range game. Coach Roy Williams tends to favor a smaller line up and with Brooks having started 26 games last season and Nassir Little and Rechon Black coming aboard, there is a good chance that Manley will once again be in a reserve role, but as the main big man off the bench, he could be poised for a breakout season for the Tar Heels.