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Danny Manning grew up watching Wake Forest play games at the Greensboro Coliseum, memories that linger in his mind all these years later. Cheap NFL Jerseys . He never thought one day hed coach the Demon Deacons. Manning, the former Kansas star who spent the past two seasons coaching Tulsa, was hired Friday as Wake Forests basketball coach. Hell be introduced at a news conference next week on campus in Winston-Salem, N.C., a short drive from where Manning grew up. "I spent a lot of my formative childhood years in North Carolina," Manning told The Associated Press on Friday at AT&T Stadium, the site of this weekends Final Four. "I spent the majority of my life in Kansas," Manning said, "but this was a chance to be a part of a university that I share the same values and history with." His hiring ends Wake Forests two-week search for a replacement for Jeff Bzdelik, who resigned under intense public pressure following four mostly unremarkable seasons. Manning, who was 38-29 with two post-season berths in two seasons at Tulsa, interviewed this week and toured the campus in Winston-Salem on Wednesday before taking the job two days later. His hiring is considered somewhat risky because of his lack of head coaching experience, but theres no question he brings instant name recognition to a program that dropped to near the bottom of the expanded Atlantic Coast Conference. "There have been very few players who have had as much success on the court as Danny," Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman said in a statement. "He has played for and worked under a number of legendary coaches and he has been successful in his coaching career. We fully expect that Dannys coaching career will reflect the excellence of his playing career." Manning attended Greensboro Page High School before his family moved to Lawrence, Kan., for his senior year, and when it was time to choose a college, he picked Kansas over North Carolina. After his "Danny and the Miracles" team won the national title in Kansas City, not far from the Jayhawks campus, Manning was drafted first overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1988. He made two All-Star teams during a career marred by injuries before joining coach Bill Selfs staff at Kansas in 2003. Responsible primarily for working with post players, Manning was promoted to assistant coach in 2006 and two years ago earned his first head coaching job at Tulsa. Self called Manning "one of the most accomplished, humble people youll ever meet." The 47-year-old Manning took the Golden Hurricane to the CBI in his first year and followed that by guiding them to the Conference USA tournament title and their first NCAA tournament berth since 2003. They earned a No. 13 seed and lost to UCLA in their tournament opener. Tulsa forward Rashad Smith said he found out about Mannings move through teammates and media reports, though he said the coach texted him shortly thereafter. Guard James Woodard said it was "kind of shocking. "You know in the back of your mind, the run we had this year, there would be a lot of opportunities out there," Woodard said. "Im happy for him." Wake Forest never came close to making the NCAA tournament under Bzdelik, who stepped down March 20. Bzdelik went 51-76 with a 17-51 record in ACC play, and won only two league road games. Eight players transferred out during his tenure, and the Demon Deacons have been one of the youngest programs in the country -- with only one fourth-year senior in each of the past two years. Barring any more transfers, Manning will inherit a team with eight players who are either juniors or redshirt juniors -- including promising big man Devin Thomas and tempo-setting guard Codi Miller-McIntyre. As details of Mannings hiring trickled across Twitter, Miller-McIntyre tweeted: "Finally its over! Time to get back to work." Manning called the Demon Deacons a "sleeping giant," one that he believes will be able to contend with Tobacco Road rivals Duke and North Carolina in the near future. "A few years back, they were ranked No. 1 in the country," Manning told AP. "Theyve had great players. Youre about Chris Paul, Tim Duncan, just to name a few, because theyve had quite a few. "Im looking forward to going there and being part of that great tradition." Cheap Jerseys . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. Cheap Jerseys from china . And former Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson certainly knows his pain. "Its pretty hard to coach there without allowing some of these things to kind of affect you," Wilson told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun in his ESPN.Suzann Pettersen won the LPGA Lotte Championship on Saturday, beating Lizette Salas with a par on the first hole of a playoff after Salas chunked her approach shot into the water. Pettersen, the leader after the second and third rounds at Ko Olina, bogeyed the final hole of regulation to set up the playoff on the par-4 18th. The 32-year-old Norwegian closed with a 5-under 67, and Salas had a tournament-record 62 to finish at 19-under 269. "I thought 20 was going to do it," Pettersen said. "That would take a fantastic round from anyone behind me, and it would take some good golf from me, but that was kind of the number I was shooting for." Salas had a double bogey on the playoff hole. She played a nine-hole stretch in 9 under, birdieing Nos. 8-9, holing out from the fairway for eagle on the par-4 10th and adding birdies on Nos. 12-16. "Chunk is not bad, but if you have water its really bad," Salas said. "But I still had a chance, and that putt didnt go in. Not everything is going to fall, but I played my butt off today." The 23-year-old American was coming off a devastating collapse two weeks ago in the Kraft Nabisco Championship when she closed with a 79 to tie for 25th after beginning the final round three strokes behind playing partner and eventual winner Inbee Park. "From shooting a 79 at Kraft to shooting a 62 here in Hawaii, like that just -- I cant really describe the feeling, just I feel so proud of myself to put that 79 in the back of my mind and just to go out and play some golf," Salas said. "I took a big risk in using the short putter, but I felt extremely comfortable. I felt like me again." Pettersen won her 11th LPGA Tour title. She had consecutive LPGA Tour victories late last season in South Korea and Taiwan and won a Ladies European Tour event last month in China. "My game has been feeling great," Pettersen said. "Its nice that I have kept kind of the progress that I had from Kraft." Pettersen birdied the par-3 12th get to 18 under, three strokes ahead of Salas, then bogeyed the par-5 13th after she lost her ball on her drive when she was distracted by a car honk. She birdied Nos. 14, 15 and 17 to reach 20 under, but couldnt get up and down for par on 18. "Ive kind of figured out how I play well, and I play well when I stay aggressive," Pettersen said. "I hate to play defensive and I hate to play away from the pins, and obviously at times you have to. Thats when the experience comes in. But for me to shy away and not step on the pedal, thats not me. If I make an error being too aggressive, I can live witth it. Wholesale Jerseys. But if I make an error playing defensive trying to protect something, I mean, I wouldnt shoot myself, but its hard for me to accept it." Salas has four top-10 finishes in seven starts this year. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, she was introduced to the game when her father, the head mechanic at Azusa Greens Golf Course west of Los Angeles, did some handyman jobs for the club pro and, instead of pay, asked him to teach his daughter to play. She went on to star at the University of Southern California, where she was a four-time All-America selection and helped the Trojans win the 2008 NCAA title. "My mom is here, everyone has been pulling for me, and I just -- baby steps," Salas said. "Ive got to just keep working on the things Im working on, and the good thing is Im going home tonight to see my family tomorrow for a day, and Im sure theyre very proud of me." Pettersen looked up at the leaderboard and was surprised to see Salas name up there. "I birdied 15, and then I think I was aware that she was like 18 under," Pettersen said. "So I mean, she wasnt going anywhere, and Im like, Oh, my God, where did she start this day? Because I didnt remember seeing her next to my name on the list yesterday. "Shes a tough cookie. Shes been playing fantastic. Shes just got to keep putting herself in this position, and shell get her win." Ariya Jutanugarn, the 17-year-old from Thailand, shot a 66 to finish third at 15 under. The top-ranked Park had a 67 to tie for fourth with I.K. Kim at 13 under. Kim shot 65. "We played one week and Im still No. 1, so I know I kind of deserve No. 1 spot now," Park said. "I played very good golf this week. The first two rounds my putts didnt really fall, but round three and four it was much better. Very happy with my game at the moment and very confident." Lydia Ko, the 15-year-old New Zealand amateur who won the Canadian Open in August to become the youngest LPGA Tour winner, tied for ninth at 10 under after a 6. The South Korea-born Ko has two other pro victories, the New South Wales Open last year and New Zealand Womens Open this year, and won the U.S. Womens Amateur last season. Second-ranked Stacy Lewis also finished at 10 under after a 71. Local favourite Michelle Wie shot a 68, her best round of the tournament, to finish at 5 under. She broke 70 for second straight day and for only the third time in 22 rounds this season. Torontos Rebecca Lee-Bentham closed with a 68, to finish 17 shots back at 286. Sara Maude Juneau of Fossambault-sur-le-lac, Que., had a 76, and finished at 295. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
