COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland hired former Wake Forest coach Danny Manning as an assistant on Mark Turgeon’s staff on Monday, reuniting a couple of old college teammates.
Manning, who played with Turgeon at Kansas in the 1980s, spent the past year as an analyst for ESPN. He was fired by Wake Forest after his team finished with a losing record in five of six seasons and just one NCAA Tournament appearance.
“I’ve known Danny for a long time going back to our days as teammates at Kansas, and I cannot say enough about him as a coach and as a human being,” Turgeon said in a university statement. “He has seen it all in the game of basketball and will bring unparalleled experience to our program.”
Turgeon said Manning has history recruiting in the Washington, D.C., area as well as strong national ties. Manning won the NCAA title and was player of the year at Kansas in 1988, the season after Turgeon left, and was an assistant on Bill Self’s staff when the Jayhawks were national champions in 2008.
Manning coached at Tulsa from 2012-14 before getting the head job at Wake Forest. Maryland is coming off a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and Turgeon recently signed a contract extension through 2026.
“(Turgeon and I) have known each other for quite some time and been through a lot of battles together over the years,” Manning said. “I am excited to help coach build on the success he has had at Maryland.”
Manning, 54, was the No. 1 pick in the 1988 NBA Draft in 1988 and played 15 professional seasons. Maryland hired him almost a year to the day he was fired by Wake Forest after posting an overall record of 78-111 and 30-80 in the ACC. Manning was replaced by Steve Forbes, who went 6-16 overall and 3-15 in the ACC in his first year in Winston-Salem after five seasons at East Tennessee State where he had a .751 winning percentage.
