Wichita State Basketball: 5 potential candidates to replace Gregg Marshall

Danny Manning

• HC experience: Tulsa (2012-14; 38-29), Wake Forest (2014-20; 78-111)

Like Matta, former Tulsa and Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning is on this list due to the emerging reports of his ties to this job.  Like Matta, Manning’s potential at landing this job is strained – albeit, for different reasons.

Whereas health problems are holding Matta back, Manning’s track record as a head coach is what ails him.  No one can deny his place as a college basketball legend – he is the all-time leading scorer in Kansas basketball history, and he is one of the greatest players in college hoops history.

Additionally, he had a stellar NBA career, and served nine seasons on the sidelines at Kansas under Bill Self, winning a national title in 2008 in the process.  He more than earned his first head coaching gig in 2012 when he was hired at Tulsa, leading one of the youngest groups in college basketball to an NCAA Tournament berth in his second season.

After going 38-29 in two seasons with the Golden Hurricanes, Manning took over at the helm of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.  He inherited a squad that failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in Jeff Bzedelik’s four seasons and had struggled to find consistent success since the late Skip Prosser’s tenure ended in 2007.

To Manning’s credit, he did well starting out.  After going 24-39 in his first two seasons, he molded three-star recruit, John Collins, into an All-American and eventual first-round NBA draft pick while leading the Demon Deacons to a First Four appearance in 2016-17 – their first appearance in the tournament since 2010.

But what followed is what makes Manning’s ties to the Wichita State job so confusing.  After going 19-14 overall and 9-9 in ACC play in 2016-17, Manning failed to get the Deacons out of the basement of the ACC, finishing no better than 12th in his final three seasons.  His record in that stretch was 35-58 overall and 14-42 in ACC play.

Manning is not an awful coach by any means – his success in the 2016-17 season deserves a lot of credit – but I do not think he is meant for a power conference job, at least not yet.

This is largely why Wichita State would be a quality fit for Manning because it is more like Tulsa than it is Wake Forest, both being in the same region and conference.  There are obviously bigger shoes to fill at Wichita State, particularly when considering the Shockers were still competing at a national level as recently as last year – something Tulsa was not doing when Manning arrived there.

If Manning gets the job, it would give him a perfect opportunity to prove himself as a head coach at a high-level institution.  Wichita State isn’t necessarily rebuilding, but Manning would be inheriting a group he can build upon and lead back to the NCAA Tournament after missing out in 2018-19 – just like he did with Tulsa and Wake Forest.