Danny Manning to become Tulsa's new hoops coach

Tulsa, OK – The University of Tulsa announced Thursday that Kansas assistant coach Danny Manning has agreed in principle to become the new men's head basketball coach of the Golden Hurricane.

Since Kansas is playing in the NCAA Final Four, an official news conference can't take place until next week following the NCAA championship.

"I'm excited and looking forward to being the head basketball coach at The University of Tulsa. I want to thank President Upham, [athletic director] Ross [Parmley] and the search committee for allowing me this tremendous opportunity to coach at a university with a fine basketball tradition," said Manning. "I'd also like to thank Coach [Bill] Self for giving me the chance to be a part of his staff for the past nine years. I have learned a tremendous amount about the game and the profession from him and all of the members of his staff.

"I look forward to meeting with our TU players, the ardent Golden Hurricane fans, the campus and Tulsa community and the media," said Manning. "Right now my focus is on Kansas and its participation in the Final Four. We've worked extremely hard to get to this point and we want to keep it going for another few days."

Manning is in his ninth season on the Kansas basketball staff and has been an assistant coach since 2007. During that time, Manning has been part of one NCAA national title, five NCAA Elite Eight appearances, eight Big 12 regular season conference titles, five Big 12 Tournament championships and 268 career victories.

The 46-year-old Manning has an impressive 163-23 record as an assistant over the past five seasons. Prior to being named an assistant, Manning served as the director of student-athlete development/team manager.

"The University of Tulsa has not only hired a great person and a great ambassador, but also a man that will lead Tulsa to great heights athletically and be competing for championships in a very short amount of time," said Kansas head basketball coach Bill Self, a former head coach at Tulsa from 1997-2000.

One of the greatest players in Kansas basketball history, Manning is the school's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, racking up 2,951 points and 1,187 boards in his illustrious four-year career. He led the 1988 Jayhawks to a national championship.

Manning was selected No. 1 overall in the 1988 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. He played for the Clippers, Hawks, Suns, Bucks, Jazz, Mavericks and Pistons, averaging 14.0 points and 5.2 rebounds in 883 career games.

Manning was a two-time NBA All-Star (1993 and 1994) and won the league's Sixth Man Award in 1998.