Mar 15, 2013; Tulsa, OK, USA; Tulsa Golden Hurricanes head coach Danny Manning talks to guard Scottie Haralson (34) during the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament game against the Memphis Tigers at the BOK Center. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Danny Manning – Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Yes, yes, yes! Talk about bringing excitement to the table! He’s only 47 and you know the pedigree behind Manning’s resume so there’s not a need to over-discuss why this would be a great hire. A solid, if not celebrated NBA swing-man for 15 seasons, Kansas Jayhawks legend and former asst. coach (and before that director of student/athlete development at KU), before traveling to Tulsa to start in the head coaching ranks.
Tulsa is back in the national limelight after securing a 13-seed to get the honor of facing UCLA in round one. In his first year, the Hurricane went a modest 17-16 and exited in the first round of the CBI tourney. I can’t fathom to think that they had a DaVonte Lacy on that team when he took over, so with the weak non-conference schedule that WSU plays we could expect at least that from him in year one here. Manning is the kind of name that works just about anywhere it seems, but boy would it be welcome here.