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Wake Forest Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for the Demon Deacons

GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 12: The Deacon, the mascot for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on the court in the ACC Quarterfinal game against the Maryland Terrapins on March 12, 2004 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Terps won 87-86. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 12: The Deacon, the mascot for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on the court in the ACC Quarterfinal game against the Maryland Terrapins on March 12, 2004 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Terps won 87-86. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – JANUARY 22: Head coach Danny Manning of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons reacts to a play in the first half during a game at John Paul Jones Arena on January 22, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – JANUARY 22: Head coach Danny Manning of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons reacts to a play in the first half during a game at John Paul Jones Arena on January 22, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /

Coach

We’ve finally gotten to the part of this preview where we talk about the very large elephant in the room.

Power-conference coaches, especially not those at a school with legitimate basketball history, don’t survive much longer than five seasons with a 65-93 overall record and 24-66 mark in conference play if they get to that point at all.

The popular and obvious narrative is that Danny Manning is on his last stand in Winston-Salem.

Two years ago, Manning had just inked a contract extension through 2024-25, coming off an NCAA Tournament berth. Everything was going according to plan for the marriage of Wake Forest and the 15-year NBA veteran, former Kansas assistant and Tulsa head coach. Now … well, you get the picture.

Manning’s tenure hasn’t been the spectacular disaster that Bzdelik’s was. His hire made sense, as he had a reputation of being one of the best coaches of big men in the nation and he had just taken Tulsa to the NCAA Tournament. By all accounts, he’s likable in a mild-mannered sort of way, and has held his own on the recruiting trail. The results just haven’t been there, and that’s about as simple a reason for a coaching change as there can be.

Actually removing Manning is the opposite. His extension was fully guaranteed, meaning that Wake Forest would be responsible for a whopping $15 million buyout if it chooses to fire him after this season. If it wasn’t for that buyout, Manning might have been gone this spring. Sooner or later, if the program continues on its current trend, Wake won’t have a choice.

The least that Manning can do for now is win more games than he did last season, which is hardly an unachievable goal. It will be up to athletic director John Currie (who did not hire Manning, for what it’s worth) to decide if that represents enough upward momentum to keep faith in him.