Wake Forest Basketball: 5 candidates to replace head coach Danny Manning
By Joey Loose
With Danny Manning fired by Wake Forest Basketball, which coach is primed to take over the Demon Deacons program?
While a majority of the college basketball world adheres to social distancing, with our focus on other sports or activities, Wake Forest Basketball dropped breaking news with the firing of head coach Danny Manning. Following six years leading the program, the Demon Deacons have decided to go in a different direction, a move that is both surprising and not a shock at all.
It’s a bit of a surprise to make this move at this point in the offseason. We near the end of April with every major head coaching position already filled; though now an ACC job is suddenly open. On one hand, this could be a brilliant move by Wake Forest. They will not be competing with any other schools with openings for these coaches, leaving them free to talk to or interview whoever they’d like without fear of losing their candidate elsewhere.
If we take a closer look at Manning’s work at Wake Forest, it’s no surprise that the school has chosen to move on. Manning was hired in 2014 after a successful two-year stint as head coach at Tulsa, but success did not follow him to Winston-Salem. In his third season, he led the Demon Deacons to the NCAA Tournament in the First Four, finishing the season 19-14. Every other season saw Wake Forest finish at least 5 games under .500, and lose at least 13 ACC conference games. Simply put, this program’s trajectory was not headed in a positive direction.
Moving forward, Wake Forest has an important decision to make. They cannot afford to throw a ton of money at a new head coach that doesn’t fit the bill. Part of the reason Manning lasted six years was his gigantic buyout, though perhaps the Demon Deacons learn from past mistakes. At his hiring, Manning looked like he could be a solid coach, and there are certainly a number of names on the rise out there in a good position to succeed him. We’re going to take a closer look at five of those candidates.