ACC Basketball: Ranking all 15 head coaches for 2019-20 season

By Joey Loose | Oct 1, 2019

DURHAM, NC - FEBRUARY 09: (L-R) Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils and head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels shake hands prior to their gaem at Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 9, 2017 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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DAYTON, OH – MARCH 14: Head coach Danny Manning of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons reacts during the First Four game against the Kansas State Wildcats in the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 14, 2017 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

15. Danny Manning (Wake Forest)

There have been some great stretches of success for the Demon Deacons. Under stars like Tim Duncan or Chris Paul, this was a highly competitive ACC program. However, in recent years, things have not gone so smoothly for the fourth-best ACC program in North Carolina. Wake Forest moves forward for another season under Manning, but was it the right choice?

Manning rose to fame as a collegiate player at Kansas, helping lead the Jayhawks to the NCAA championship in 1988. The first overall pick of that year’s NBA draft, he’d spent 15 years in the league. His coaching career began a few years later under Bill Self back at Kansas before Tulsa gave him a chance to be a head coach. In his two seasons with the Golden Hurricane, he produced an NCAA Tournament that won 21 games.

Wake Forest brought Manning on board in 2014 to exceedingly mixed results. Four of his five seasons have been frustrating disappointments under .500, though 2017 produced a Tournament team. The season netted him the Skip Prosser Award, though the positives have been few and far behind for him with the Demon Deacons.

There were certainly expectations for Manning at Wake Forest and he certainly hasn’t met them. There hasn’t been a Duncan or Paul kind of talent on this roster and Manning’s in-game coaches has been met with criticism. He’s won just four ACC games in the last two seasons and stands out as the worst coach in the conference. He’ll need a major step forward or year six will almost certainly be his last.