Danny Manning was introduced as Tulsa’s 29th basketball coach on Wednesday afternoon.
Here is a question-and-answer session that Manning did with the Tulsa World following his news conference (Note: This interview was completed before Kodi Maduka collapsed following a Wednesday pickup game. The junior-to-be is in stable condition at a local hospital. He’s being held for observation).
Here are the questions posed to Manning:
Tulsa World: Has this been a whirlwind today with everything involved?
Danny Manning: It has been. It’s been a lot of fun in terms of the excitement and energy of it. My head is spinning a little bit, to be honest with you. But it’s all good. I’m excited and look forward to being here. The amount of love shown to me and our staff has been outstanding. I’m looking forward to it.
TW; Were you at the point of your career where it was just time to be a head coach and see what you can do?
DM: Absolutely. Being under Coach (Bill) Self for the past nine years and playing professionally for the past 15 and the coaches that I’ve played for … I’ve been preparing for this day for awhile. I’m glad it’s here and I’m very happy it’s at TU.
TW:Can you talk about the tools you have at Tulsa and what you are going to inherit?
DM: I just look at different things. You look at the record and they’ve had a lot of success there. I haven’t had a chance to study the players like I need to, but when you look at the stats in general, the stats shape up very nice. It’s a team that’s very successful on the offensive end and on the defensive end. There’s a lot to work with. Doug (Wojcik) left this situation very healthy. I don’t know the ins and outs of what exactly happened, but he left TU in a better place.
TW: It seems the fans are hungry for an up-and-down style of play. Can you talk about that challenge?
DM: I don’t know if the fans are hungry are for it and I don’t know if the players are hungry for it until they get in and see it. Basketball, to me, is a wonderful sport and it’s an entertaining sport. I want to play in a manner that is entertaining. I want people to come out and watch us because we’re having success. I want people to come out because they enjoy what they are seeing. To me, playing an up-tempo style of play gives you the best avenue to get there. When I say up-tempo, I’m not talking about the first guy that passes the half-court line to shoot the basketball. But we do want to play fast. We want to put pressure on the opposition every chance we get by running the ball up the court, and then move the ball side to side and attacking. There are times when you want to be deliberate, but for the most part we want to be in attack mode.
TW: Can you tell that there is a passion for Tulsa basketball within this community?
DM: I knew that from Coach Self and Cindy Self and from Barry Hinson and Norm Roberts. Billy Gillispie. All those coaches have shared that with me. That’s the beauty of this job, the support that you get from the community.
TW: What did it mean to get texts from your future players like Jordan Clarkson and Tim Peete during the Final Four?
DM: That was very nice. It came at great times because you are watching tape and you’re tired and you’re crunching numbers and all the sudden you get a text from one of your guys saying good luck, go get them, play hard, we’re watching, we’re cheering for you … that gave me a lot of extra energy and boosted my day.
TW: Have you been able to reach out to the signees?
DM: It’s coming in the upcoming days. I saw an article that they still pledged their support to TU. That’s good to hear. I definitely want to go down and be in front of them and meet their families and let them know we still want them to be a part of Tulsa basketball.
TW: How do you handle a situation when the family of a player like Jordan Clarkson makes a public statement that they would explore all of their options, including the possibility of a transfer, following the coach change?
DM: We’re in the process of developing our relationship. As each day goes by, he gets the chance to know me better and get a feel for me. He can see what we’re all about. This system that we’re going to incorporate is one that all these young men will want to play in. We are going to take advantage of getting up and down the court in a timely fashion.
TW: Can you talk about the importance of building your staff during this process?
DM: It’s very important. You are going to have people that are very loyal not only to you, but TU. They are going to be loyal to the young men they are coaching and energetic. They are going to be guys with great families. Our young men have to see how it is to be a husband, how it is to be a father. They can have an idea once they step out – not saying this is the only model – hopefully it is one they can look back at and use as a positive. We want these guys to know that we genuinely have their best interests at heart.
TW: Is it going to be tough not wearing a KU shirt?
DM: There’s a little gold in the color, but we still have that royal and red. It will be different, but it’s a change that we’re looking forward to. We may have a couple of Freudian slips and say KU instead of TU a couple of times, but we know where we are at.
