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Can Danny Manning make up for his torture of Oklahoma basketball fans?
Published: 3/29/2012 12:57 PM
Last Modified: 3/29/2012 4:40 PM

Former Kansas star Danny Manning may get the chance to undo a little bit of the hurt he caused Oklahoma basketball fans nearly 25 years ago.

Manning's 31-point, 18-rebound performance in the 1988 NCAA championship game derailed the Oklahoma Sooners' title dreams.

Now, he has the chance to restore Tulsa's NCAA Tournament dreams.

Manning, Final Four Most Outstanding Player and NBA All-Star, was officially named the Golden Hurricane's next basketball coach Thursday after several days of speculation.

There is one thing for sure -- Manning must be a great interview. How else can you explain hiring someone who doesn't fit many of the criteria thought crucial in Tulsa's next basketball coach -- head coaching experience, leading a team to the NCAA Tournament, a dynamic personality?

Manning seems a high-risk hire with rewards that may not match.

By most accounts, he is an elite coach of post players. He seems to have the respect and confidence of Kansas coach Bill Self, which carries an awful lot of weight in Tulsa.

But he's never been a head coach, so there is no indication of how he will run a program. And he's said to be reclusive -- not exactly what you want to hear about a coach whose biggest job will be to inspire a slipping fan base.

Manning will definitely do one thing -- he'll make Tulsa basketball a bigger story both regionally and nationally. Kansas fans will cast a watchful eye southward, while Manning's profile in the college game will make anything he does a national story.

Just ask Lamar -- another job Central Oklahoma coach Terry Evans lost out on to a high-profile candidate.

Rather than take a chance on Evans, Lamar hired former Texas Tech coach Pat Knight. When Pat Knight went on his now famous ranting criticizing his senior class, it became national news (check it out here).

When that rant inspired an NCAA Tournament run, that too was a national story because of Knight's famous last name.

Tulsa basketball will now get that type of attention. Here's hoping it's because Manning is as good a coach as he was a player.

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SWC (11 months ago)

danny did not torture oklahoma fans nearly as much as the game officials who 'did not see' numerous fouls committed by danny during the game.......the most objective viewer usually comes up with 7 fouls....sooner fans saw 9 or 10 and ku fans of course did not seen any........oklahoma had one of the most entertaining and exciting teams of any era that year....and ku pulled out a win in the champ game in kemper arena.

JS (11 months ago)

Tubby Smith had no head coaching experience. Bob Stoops had no head coaching experience. It seems that they both worked out okay. Manning has worked under and learned from two of the best in the business - Bill Self and Roy Williams.

JS (11 months ago)

Oops, it was not Williams. It was Larry Brown, who I recall as the one who turned the tables on "Billy Ball" in '88. OU had beaten KU twice that season by running, while Kansas played a more traditional game. For the final, Brown unleashed Kansas and they ran with OU at least in the first half. Manning was amazing.

mgpeters (11 months ago)

Every hire is risky, but there seemed to be less risky alternatives.

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Tulsa World Sports Editor Michael Peters has nearly 20 years of daily newspaper experience. A 1993 graduate of Texas A&M, he worked at papers in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, before joining the Houston Chronicle as High School Sports Editor in 2008. While in Houston, he coordinated coverage of the 2008 Texas Class 5A state football championships and the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four.

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