Former Kansas and NBA star Danny Manning joins Maryland as an assistant coach

Maryland coach Mark Turgeon announced Monday that former Kansas and NBA star Danny Manning is joining the Terrapins’ coaching staff as an assistant coach. Manning worked for ESPN this past season after serving as head coach at Wake Forest for six seasons.

Turgeon’s hiring of Manning constitutes a reunion of sorts. The two were teammates at Kansas from 1984 through 1987 under Larry Brown. The Jayhawks made the 1986 Final Four with Manning as their leading scorer and Turgeon playing 10.3 minutes per game off the bench.

“I’m thrilled to add Danny to our coaching staff,” Turgeon said in a statement. “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. He has seen it all in the game of basketball and will bring unparalleled experience to our program. Danny has history recruiting in the DMV region and has many ties locally, as well as nationally. I am excited for him to get to College Park and meet the tremendous guys in our locker room.”

The hiring of Manning comes after Maryland assistant DeAndre Haynes left for a position on Shaka Smart’s staff at Marquette. Manning, 54, was also the head coach at Tulsa and on staff at Kansas prior to his stint at Wake Forest. The two-time former NBA All-Star played in the NBA from 1988 until 2003 before entering the coaching ranks in a team manager role at Kansas and then becoming an assistant coach.

“I want to thank Coach Turgeon and (athletic director) Damon Evans for the tremendous opportunity to join the University of Maryland men’s basketball program,” Manning said. “I’m looking forward to reuniting with Coach. We have known each other for quite some time and been through a lot of battles together over the years. I am excited to help Coach build on the success he has had at Maryland. This is a great opportunity to learn from Coach and his staff and be a part of a wonderful conference in the Big Ten.”