ACC Basketball: Top 20 impact transfers for 2021-22 season

8. Brady Manek | 6’9 Forward/Center | North Carolina Tar Heels

Brady Manek is another Oklahoma Sooners star set to make a splash at a different destination with the retirement of Lon Kruger. He’s a graduate transfer that should change the dynamic a ton with the North Carolina Tar Heels for Hubert Davis in his first season as head coach.

Manek had a consistent four-year career in the paint and on the perimeter with the Sooners, starting in all but 11 of the 122 games he appeared in for them. He averaged 12.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game while shooting 37.4 percent from behind the arc from 2017-21.

He earned All-Big 12 third-team honors in 2019-20. That season, he finished with a career-high 37 blocks (1.2 per contest) while also posting career-highs in points per game (14.4) and rebounds per game (6.2) and 3-pointers made per game (2.3).

This past season, he maintained his production despite the Covid-19 pandemic. He finished 2020-21 putting up 10.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game through 25 games.

Manek is set to give the Tar Heels some size and shooting prowess in the frontcourt. They’ll certainly look to get more out of him on the defensive interior given his body of work.

He’s got the experience to play either forward spot or the center position, giving North Carolina quite a versatile threat on the floor at 6-foot-9.