Tulsa Men's Basketball Officially Hires Danny Manning

Golden Hurricane fans, the wait is over.

The University of Tulsa announced the official hiring of Danny Manning Thursday as the next head coach for the men's basketball team.

Tulsa and Manning have reached an agreement in principle that will make him the 29th head coach, and fifth in the last 12 years, at the helm of the Golden Hurricane program.

Since Manning is currently in New Orleans with the Kansas Jayhawks as they prepare for its NCAA Semifinals game, an official introductory news conference will not be held until sometime next week following the NCAA Championship.

"I'm excited and looking forward to being the head basketball coach at The University of Tulsa," said Manning. "I look forward to meeting with our TU players, the ardent Golden Hurricane fans, the campus and Tulsa community and the media. 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."

"We are extremely excited to have Danny join The University of Tulsa as our new Head Basketball Coach. He epitomizes everything our university stands for. His impact on young people will extend far beyond the TU basketball program and reach well into our campus and community," said TU Athletic Director Ross Parmley.

Manning has spent the past nine seasons coaching at the University of Kansas, serving as a part-time coach until 2007 when he was elevated to a full-time assistant.

The KU alum played for the Jayhawks from 1984-1988 and helped Kansas win the 1988 national championship over Oklahoma.

Manning is the all-time leading scorer and rebounder at Kansas with 2,951 points and 1,187 boards during his career. Manning was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in November, 2008.

The 45 year old went on to play 15 seasons in the NBA after being drafted as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1988 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. Manning played for seven different professional teams including the Clippers, Hawks, Suns, Bucks, Jazz, Mavericks and Pistons.

Since coaching at Kansas, Manning has been credited with the progress of several big men including OKC Thunder player Cole Aldrich, Wayne Simien, Julian Wright, Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun, and twins Marcus and Markieff Morris.

"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," said Manning.

"Danny Manning is one of the most accomplished, humble people you'll ever meet. He's done more in his life through the athletic world than just about anybody, but you would never know it in visiting with him as he never ever talks about himself," said Kansas Head Coach Bill Self.

"His focus on deciding to be a basketball coach was to try to share some of his knowledge and make others better. He's certainly done that at a very high level with us here at Kansas. Although 46 years old, he's well beyond those in basketball years as far as experience," added Self.

The Golden Hurricane has been searching for its next head coach since firing Doug Wojcik on March 11 after a 17-14 season. Despite coaching at TU for six winning seasons, Wojcik failed to take the Golden Hurricane to an NCAA tournament appearance.