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NCAA MEN'S FIRST FOUR: DAYTON

March 13, 2017

Danny Manning

Dayton, Ohio

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by the head coach of Wake Forest, Danny Manning.

COACH MANNING: Very excited to be here. I'm looking forward to being a part of the tournament. I think as a basketball player, especially a young one, when you're out in the driveway, you live all of your special moments, so to speak. And for our kids to have an opportunity to be a part of this, it's something that is very special. And hopefully it's a memory that carries with them for a very long time.

We're playing a very talented team in K-State. Very balanced team. Got quite a few guys, their whole starting lineup averaging double-digit points. And everybody brings something unique to the table in that starting lineup.

D.J. is a big guy with a motor, who is always on go, full tilt. Works extremely hard on both ends of the floor.

Wade is a pick-and-pop big who can go down to the post and do some things. Wesley, in my opinion, is their best player who does it all, scores at all three levels -- defends, gets deflections, rebounds. I think he's a terrific player. And I think their guards in Stokes and Brown do a great job in pushing in transition, making 3s and also getting to the paint.

They bring in guys off their bench that give them a chance to have success. And defensively, they're one of the better defensive teams in the country.

Most of Coach Weber's teams always had that type of mentality, so to speak. And it's going to be a tough challenge for us, but one that we welcome and look forward to.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. As John has elevated his game, is there anything you've been able to take from your experience as a player, especially whether it's ''88 or whatever, to kind of help him as he's become a bigger target?
COACH MANNING: What we continue to talk about is manufactured points. And for John, we talk about second-chance opportunities, getting to the free-throw line, and then early post-ups in transition.

And if he can get anywhere from 10 to 12 points in those categories, we're going to have a chance to have some success throughout the rest of our offense in terms of getting him post touches and just touches in general.

But we want him to try to manufacture 10 to 12 points in those categories every game. And he's been doing a really, really good job of that.

And then a lot of times a lot of big guys, getting them to understand that when your team is in the bonus you don't need the basketball to score. You just post up strong. You post up strong and the team fouls you, you're in the bonus, you go to the free-throw line. And he's been doing a great job of that.

Q. When you got into coaching, how much was your patience tested because you had played at such a high level? And what still tests your patience today?
COACH MANNING: Well, you're dealing with adolescents, first of all. Your patience will always be tested in those type of situations. But for me, my path was a little bit different. As a player going through the injuries that I went through, having to adjust and look at things a lot differently really helped me in the role that I have today.

Going through the knee injuries that I went through, you lose athletic ability, you lose quickness, you lose a lot of things. And you have to find of a way to get it back, and the only way in my mind I could get it back was anticipation. That's studying your opponents and understanding, okay, I'm playing against this player. He likes to go right, two bounces to a pullup jump shot. This is his foot placement when he shoots the basketball.

And being disciplined in that regard really helped me out as a player in my career, and it just kind of morphed into coaching towards the end of my career. I was able to share different things that I saw with my teammates that were out there on the court when they would come to the bench during a timeout. And I retired from the game, and Coach Self created a spot for me on his staff. And I've been very fortunate and blessed with that, and just trying to take it all in from there.

Q. Talk about John manufacturing points. Did you have to go through that learning curve as a young player? And John joked that if you needed to produce a tape of the "Danny and the Miracles," you could probably pull one up. Would you have one readily available for him?
COACH MANNING: No, I don't. My mom might. But I don't have one.

You know, for me, being a player, and everyone on our staff, all of our guys played at this level at some point in time -- people ask me, what's the best post move to teach someone. And I'm, like, when you don't have to make a post move. When you're able to get an angle and score, the path of least resistance is the best move you can make in basketball.

And figuring out ways to put yourself in that situation is something I think John has done a good job with and still developing. But he does a good job with his footwork and trying to create an angle to score the basketball.

Q. Danny, last night on the teleconference I believe you were telling a story about Kansas State and chickens. But it was kind of breaking up. I didn't really hear what -- can you give me some context? I know you've got a lot of history with Kansas State, so fill me in on this good story.
COACH MANNING: Fill you in. My freshman year at Kansas we would go to Ahearn, which was the gym that K-State played in way back when when I was playing.

And wide-eyed freshman ran out there on the court and saw some live chickens come out there with us, which was a very unique experience for me at that time. But I looked around at my teammates, and they were all looking to see what the reaction of all our freshmen were going to be when they saw that, and they were all cracking up laughing.

So I figured we were going to be okay after I looked around at a few guys and they were laughing at us.

Q. Why were the chickens there?
COACH MANNING: That's just something that certain people use as a Jayhawk, so to speak. I guess that's a correct term or the politically correct term to use (laughter).

Q. What do you remember about playing here back in '86 during the tournament?
COACH MANNING: I remember being in Dayton. I remember being in this arena. That was so long ago. A lot of games ago. I can't remember the teams we played, I don't know if it was Ohio maybe -- I'm not for sure. Coach Dinger knows back there. Who did we play, Coach? Temple? A&T?

Q. NC State.
COACH MANNING: That was a long time ago. It's always fun to be a part of March Madness and to be in this tournament and we had a lot of fun when I was at Kansas and we're looking forward to having some fun during our hopefully long run in this tournament.

Q. You've talked a lot this season about having a young team. Is there any concern about them being maybe over-amped tomorrow and how do you manage that, especially early in the game?
COACH MANNING: I'm okay with that. They should be excited. They better be excited. And we can find ways to talk to them and help them relax. But there should be a little pop to them, a little excitement when they step out on the court.

Q. Can you just assess maybe what level of satisfaction you have getting the program to this point in this short a time?
COACH MANNING: I think our staff, we've got some assistant coaches Randolph Childress and Brett Ballard and Steve Woodberry that do a tremendous job identifying young men that fit our profile.

And then development is very big for us. Each year we bring our class in, it's important that those guys continue to develop and take steps and all the guys that have been in our program, we feel, have done that.

And for us, the first couple of years, you're trying to lay down your foundation, you want to be competitive, you want to win but you want to make sure that your foundation is solid.

And we feel like we've got a solid foundation. We feel like the young men in our program understand what we want from them, both on the court and off the court.

And for us, we're just trying to help these guys be prepared for life. We want them, when they leave Wake Forest, to be young men that are able to go out, navigate this world and be very successful at it. And we get a chance to teach the game of basketball, there are a lot of parallels to life. And these guys are developing and they're growing. And we're happy to see that growth. We're going to continue to push and challenge them to be the best they can be in day out.

Q. You mentioned Kansas State's defense. Is there a team that you guys have faced already this season that they sort of remind you of and certain things they do, and how do you approach that, if they do?
COACH MANNING: They remind me a little bit of Louisville in the sense of deflections, a lot of active hands. They have good length across the board. So making sure that we're strong with the basketball, making sure that we go meet the basketball, something that's very important. I think defensively they're a team that reminds me a little bit of Virginia Tech, if you will. I think they're very solid defensively and they have some guys that go out there and wear that hard hat, day in, day out.

And I think that charge is led by D.J. I just think he's a very active player who creates a lot of things for his team with his energy.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Good luck tomorrow night. FastScripts by ASAP Sports

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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