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Brady Manek didn’t realize he was close to a key milestone in his Oklahoma career until he read articles about it. Manek found out he was about 30 points shy from the 1,000-point mark, and his childhood friend and teammate, Kristian Doolittle, wasn’t too far from eclipsing the achievement, too.

After 17 points against Iowa State and 10 versus Kansas, Manek knew he could break it in a home game against TCU. The then-junior exploded for 31 points against the Horned Frogs, and Doolittle reached 1,000 two weeks later

“It was really cool to see local guys be able to do that,” Manek said.

Manek transferred to UNC for his graduate season after a successful four years at Oklahoma. He started 111 of 122 games at Oklahoma, finishing his career as the program’s 14th-leading scorer, and the only Sooner to ever compile 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 3-pointers and 100 blocks. Now at UNC — which hosts Syracuse on Monday night in a key late-season matchup — Manek has become one of the Tar Heels’ leading scorers, averaging almost 14 points per game and leading the team in 3-pointers made (65).

Manek’s parents met at Oklahoma Christian University where they both played basketball. His brother, Kellen, is in his last year of college eligibility at Southeastern Oklahoma State, and his dad coached his youth basketball team, which Doolittle was also a part of.

Manek, Kellen, and Doolittle competed in youth tournaments in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma together for five years, but Manek said he was more focused on baseball growing up.

“I was a big Little League baseball player,” Manek said. “That’s what I wanted to do, and that was the goal. Then I got to high school and realized baseball didn’t have full scholarships, there’s a lot of leagues, and it’s hard to make it.”

Toward the end of his sophomore basketball season at Harrah High School (Oklahoma), Manek quit baseball. At 6-foot-9, Manek received his first scholarship offer in basketball from Oklahoma head coach Lon Kruger.

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When Manek entered college, he was still relatively unknown, former Oklahoma assistant coach Carlin Hartman said. But that quickly changed when the team went to Australia during the summer before his freshman season.

On that trip, Hartman said the coaching staff realized how special of a player Manek was going to be. He earned his way to the starting lineup and was out there for the Sooners’ opening tipoff against Omaha. Hartman said Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young, who Manek played with during his freshman season, played a major role in his development from a starter to a difference maker.

“(Trae was) a guy who can get (Manek) the ball, get him shots and take pressure off a true freshman,” Hartman said. “He just took off from there. It was really a match made in Heaven being able to pair with Trae.”

The connection between the two culminated when the Sooners were up by two with less than 20 seconds left against then-No. 4 Kansas in January 2018. Kruger called a strong slide slip play, where Young was used as a decoy. Thinking Young was about to take the game-sealing shot, Manek set a pick on guard Devonte’ Graham, drawing Manek’s defender to Young and leaving him open from the 3-point line.

Young hit Manek in stride, allowing him to step behind the arc and put the game out of reach with just 14 seconds left. Hartman said that moment proved to him that Kruger fully trusted Manek, even when he was a freshman.

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A photo posted by brady_manek

Hartman said Manek’s versatile skill set allowed Kruger to navigate between big and small lineups. Shortly after breaking the 1,000-point mark, Manek’s season was cut short due to COVID-19, causing him to miss out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his career. Manek continued to excel during his senior season, finishing top three on the team in scoring, 3-pointers made, blocks and rebounds.

Following the Sooners’ loss to No. 1 Gonzaga in the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament, Kruger retired from coaching. Manek said Kruger was a big reason why he came to Oklahoma and decided to take a week to decide if he wanted to enter the transfer portal or go professional. Manek knew he’d have opportunities to play professionally overseas, but he also had aspirations to play in the NBA.

Manek eventually settled on transferring to UNC, which was also going through a coaching change as Roy Williams retired at the end of its season. After speaking to newly hired head coach Hubert Davis in one of his last calls with other schools, Manek decided to join the Tar Heels. He felt like he fit in best there and that he had nothing to lose with one more collegiate season.

“If all else fails, I’ll end up exactly where I was a year ago,” Manek said, referencing his persistent goal of making it to the NBA once he finishes his successful collegiate career.

Published on February 27, 2022 at 11:47 pm

Contact Matthew: mahassan@syr.edu