Kansas basketball legend Danny Manning named assistant coach at Colorado

Danny Manning has a new job — and one that will pit him against his alma mater. at least once next season.

Manning, one of the most revered players in Kansas basketball’s storied history, has been named an assistant coach at Colorado, a move that was announced Tuesday.

There, Manning will work under 14th-year Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle, with whom he played for one season with the Jayhawks in 1984-85.

“I’m very excited to join coach Boyle’s staff,” Manning said in a statement. “This staff has been together for quite some time and has had quite a bit of success, so I want to come in and be a sponge; learn from them, the things they’ve been doing to be successful and just try and add little nuggets that I can along the way in terms of my experience as a player and a coach.”

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Manning’s move to Boulder, Colorado comes at an interesting time.

Starting next season, Colorado will be playing in the Big 12, meaning it will square off at least once every season against Kansas. The Buffaloes were in the Big 12 from 1996-2011 and, before that, were members of the league’s forerunners, the Big 8 and Big 7, beginning in 1947. They were conference mates with Kansas throughout that stretch of more than 50 years.

Manning played at Kansas from 1984-88, a time in which he rewrote the program’s record book and became one of the most accomplished players to ever suit up for the Jayhawks. His 2,951 career points are the most ever by a Kansas player, and by a significant margin, with the next-closest finisher, Nick Collison, at 2,097 points. He’s also the program’s all-time leader in career rebounds (1,187) and made field goals (1,216).

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Manning capped off his decorated career by leading the Jayhawks to the 1988 NCAA championship as a No. 6 seed with a team still known as “Danny and the Miracles.” During that run, Manning averaged 27.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and two steals per game while shooting 55.2% from the field. He saved his best for last, scoring 31 points, pulling down 18 rebounds and nabbing five steals in an 83-79 championship game victory against Big 8 rival Oklahoma.

Manning arrives at Colorado from Louisville, where he was the associate head coach during Kenny Payne’s ill-fated two-year run as the Cardinals’ head coach. He was previously the head coach at Wake Forest and Tulsa, accumulating a 116-140 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances over eight seasons.

He got his start in college coaching at Kansas, where he was the director of student-athlete development starting in 2003, after Bill Self was hired as head coach, before being elevated to assistant coach after the 2006-07 season. He was on the staff of the Jayhawks’ 2008 national championship team.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball legend Danny Manning named assistant coach at Colorado