Danny Manning Interview

3, 2, and 1. Wake wins it. 113-101 in double overtime.

Six long years it's been since 2014. That Wake Forest bested Duke in basketball. That was the voice of the Deke Stan Cotton on the Wake Forest Learfield IMG Sports Network. As he said, Wake Forest beating Duke for the first time since 2014. Danny Manning, the head coach of the Demon Deacons, kind enough to spend some time here.

A lot of people are making a lot about this being your first win against the Blue Devils. But as we all know, Danny, you've been through all the heights a college basketball player can go through and you've been at every level of basketball. But what gives you the most satisfaction today with some time to reflect on it, seeing your guys who haven't experienced the heights of a court storm or the heights of beating a top 10 team go through it? Well, you know, for me, we're always happy to see our guys have success. The majority of the time, people equate success for the young people that we come in contact with every day in the sport and on the court. But for us, we want well-rounded young men. And we have that here at Wake and the game tonight was, to me, showed a lot of character from our young people because they continued to battle.

And there were opportunities where, you know, it was starting to look really bleak. But our guys continued to battle, encouraged one another, and followed the game plan in terms of what we needed to do coming out of each time out. And, you know, I just thought that was a testament to their hard work and grind and belief in one another. And, you know, Duke's a very talented team, great program.

Coach K is a Hall of Famer and they're always talented. And, you know, it was, I thought it was one of the better college basketball games I've ever been a part of just in terms of how the game went back and forth and different players making plays. It was fun to see as a fan, but it was a little stressful as a coach.

I'm sure it was. I'm glad you mentioned the way your team battled because when you don't get rewarded for the way that you battle so many times, I imagine that can wear on a group. And the thing I've always admired about your team, regardless of record or in-game situation, your guys always seem to play hard. They run through a brick wall for you and your staff. What is that more a testament of how you and your staff have prepared your team to approach game situations or the type of players you bring in?

Well, I think it's a little bit of both. I think, you know, we get guys in our program that understand what we're asking of them. And they're willing to, they're willing, you know, whether it's willing on the court, willing in the classroom, they bring that characteristic every time they step out on the court and understand that it's about our team and what we can do as a team to be successful. And that's probably the biggest thing that we try to share with our guys.

And that's continuing to develop and get better and understand that you're going to have good days, you're going to have bad days, but regardless, give us the best that you have at that particular time on that day and we can live with the results. And, you know, our guys have had some carryover from the last previous practices that were really competitive and tough. And, you know, those situations carried over and helped us in the game the other night against a very talented Duke team. Danny Manning with us here on Sports Hub Triad. He's on Twitter at Coach D Manning, Brandon Childress. He was emotional after this game. He was speaking to Katie George of the ACC Network and expressed that everybody overlooked him, he said, except for you guys and your staff and his teammates.

They all believed in him even at the end of the game when he was 0 for 10. But when we look at the recruiting of Brandon Childress, I think he had an offer from East Carolina, but not really noticed on the ACC circuit aside from you guys. Why do you think Brandon was overlooked? Well, I mean, Brandon played on some really good teams. You know, he played on some really good teams. I remember going into a gym and you see Harry Giles and, you know, Harry was number one player in the country. You see Craig Parker.

You see Dennis Smith. You see a ton of talented players and, you know, what we needed at the time of recruiting Brandon was we needed someone to come in that we were going to groom as our quarterback of the future. And he was going to be on a pace that his junior year, that would be his role on our team. So his freshman year, he comes in and he gets a taste of it. His sophomore year, he gets a little bit more.

And then we give him the keys to the car his junior year. And he's continued to improve each day out. And, you know, the one thing about Brandon is he's a competitor. You know, he's got great character and he's not afraid to miss shots. And, you know, he struggled offensively. But for us, there was no question that he was going to be out there at the end of the game and we were going to make sure the ball was in his hands. And we got some matchups that we liked and he made some tough shots. He did. And he got our guys in spots. He communicated. I thought he played a really good ball game just in terms of the communication level that he had with his teammates and imploring them to get stops, imploring them to be aggressive and to attack and continue himself to stay ready for the moment.

And, you know, he got an opportunity and he he made some plays for us. What does a quad rolling look like for somebody who hasn't been a part of it? Because I saw video and picture of you being out there and seeing all the toilet paper hanging from all over the place at the quad. It's a beautiful sight.

It is. You know, we've got a great campus. We've got a beautiful campus. And, you know, to roll out there and you go see that vision.

You see all of our students. You see quite a few of our faithful Demon Deacon fans out there, you know, enjoying the celebration. It was it was fun to see. And, you know, a lot of times for us as competitors, we're on to the next one, you know, and that's got to be our mindset game wise. But I thought last night our guys going up on the quad, celebrating with our other student athletes, especially our football players that were very supportive and always been supportive of us was a lot of fun to see along with our other students. I thought you were going to answer the question a little bit differently, because after the game, I asked you how the postgame locker room looked.

And this is what you said. Fun, excited. You know, a lot of guys. I mean, everybody was young guys. Now they were lit.

It was definitely that last night on the quad as well. Is there any other terminology or artists you've picked up being around the youth of your team being around the youth of college basketball? Oh, absolutely. I've got to mix in some some current lingo to catch their attention from time to time. But I'm trying to relate to you want to show off some of it. What do you got? What's in your arsenal, Danny? You know what?

I don't I don't I don't have much. I know it was just the the adjective that I heard quite a few of those guys saying when they were running back into the locker room after the game last. Well, it was lit and we'll continue to see if things stay that way the rest of the way. Well, congratulations. I know a lot of people are happy for your guys and certainly happy for you as well.

It was quite a sight at the Joel Coliseum. Appreciate you spending time here and congratulations on the success. Thanks a lot. Take care and have a great day.