Maryland Basketball: Current state of Terrapins in middle of 2021 offseason

Coaching staff

The Maryland faithful as always had to deal with what would happen to Maryland coach Mark Turgeon. Would he leave the program to take another job, would he get a new contract or contract extension, blah, blah, blah. There were rumors swirling that Turgeon would pack it up and move on as he was rumored to take the head coaching job at Oklahoma where he would be closer to home, there was even talk about Turgeon taking the job at UNC.

The Turge haters, of course, were waiting with baited breath to see what would happen, as they always have questioned how Turgeon has handled recruiting, the transfer portal, and some of his coaching decisions over the years.

So, with that said, all that talk was put to rest as Maryland agreed to a contract extension for Coach Turgeon. The new contract had revised financial terms as the extension was through the 2025 – 2026 season and was effective May 1, 2021.  Maryland AD Damon Evans was quoted as saying “We believe in Coach Turgeon and are excited about what the future holds for Maryland basketball,” said Evans. “Coach is fully committed to Maryland and we are in agreement of the expectations for our program as we move forward”. Now that Coach Turgeon has the full confidence of the administration, it was time to go to work.

It didn’t take long for Coach Turgeon to get busy, as assistant coach Deandre Haynes announced that he was leaving College Park to head to Marquette to be an assistant coach under new Marquette coach Shaka Smart. This leaves Coach Turgeon with a major void to fill with this coaching staff, as well as being the first big decision he had to make after getting that vote of confidence from the administration with the contract extension.  It didn’t take too long for Turgeon to get his “man” for the job.

As a head coach, you have to have an assistant coach that you can trust and that would hopefully be on the same page with what you are trying to do in terms of culture and the program. What better way to accomplish this than to reach out to an old friend, who knows a little bit about basketball.

Coach Mark Turgeon reached out to an old friend and teammate to fill the open coaching position. Kansas great and Hall of Famer Danny Manning did not hesitate when asked if he wanted to come to College Park.  This was a great decision by both Turgeon and Manning, as what better way for Coach Turgeon to start off 2021- 2022 than with a high profile assistant coach in Manning.  Coach Turgeon and Coach Manning played together for the Kansas Jayhawks from 1984 – 1987, so they have known each other for a while now, which for me checks one of my boxes.

Another box that I can absolutely check off is experience as a player and what Coach Manning can bring to the table. I am not sure that there are a lot of people that can compare resumes with Coach Manning, as he is considered by many to be one of the greatest college basketball players of all time. In college basketball circles past or present, few people have never heard of the Kansas great.

Here are some of his accomplishments:

All-Time Leading Scorer at Kansas

Two-time first-team All-American

1988 National Championship

NCAA’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player

Wooden Award Winner

Naismith Player of the Year

Number 25 jersey retired by Kansas.

After his college career was over, Coach Manning was selected as the first overall pick of the LA Clippers in the 1988 NBA draft and went on to play in the NBA for 15 seasons. Along the way, he racked up over 12,00 points, selected to two all-star games, and also won the NBA Sixth Man of the year award in 1998.

The last box that Coach Manning checks off is that of coaching experience. Coach Manning started off his coaching career as an assistant head coach at Kansas (2006 – 2012) and helped the Jayhawks win the 2008 National Championship.  Manning then became the head basketball coach at Tulsa (2012-2014) and most recently was the head basketball coach at Wake Forest (2014 – 2020).

So, Manning has 14 total years of college coaching experience and 8 years as a head coach. Manning to his credit has 116 wins as a head coach. Coach Manning not only has game experience, but he also has coaching experience as well.

The last box is that of can Manning coach players and makes them better. The answer simply is yes. This box is checked as well. Throughout his career at both the college and NBA levels, at 6-10, he was played at center/power forward, so he understands how to play the position. Manning has a reputation of knowing how to make big men better and how to coach big men.

Manning has coached 15 NBA draft picks, including 10 first-round selections and nine current NBA players, with his most recent, while coaching at Wake Forest Manning coached John Collins, who in two season playing for Manning went from being recruited to Wake Forest ranked outside the top 100 in his high school class in 2015 to the No. 19 overall selection in the 2017 NBA Draft.

I am a big alumni guy and believe coaches should be or have ties to the Maryland program. I must admit my choices were Juan Dixon or Keith Booth because they are Terp’s basketball royalty. So with that said, it does not get me mad or upset that Coach Manning is the new Maryland assistant coach. Coach Turgeon needs someone he can trust in not only working together but has trust in Manning to continue developing big men like he has shown over the years.

WELCOME TO COLLEGE PARK COACH DANNY MANNING!!!!