Rare is the man who spins success on the court into success on the sideline.
This week, CBS Sports ranked all the coaches in the NCAA Tournament by their playing careers. Alford was slotted fifth ahead of Virginia coach Tony Bennett but behind Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg.
Danny Manning? He was No. 1.
Alford and Manning are among nine coaches in this year’s postseason field to have even made an NBA roster.
Friday’s tipoff between No. 4 seed UCLA and No. 13 seed Tulsa features a reunion of sorts, with both in suit and tie.
When asked what he knew about the Golden Hurricane, Alford’s first mention was Manning, — who in his second year as a head coach has taken Tulsa back to March Madness for the first time in 11 years.
“We got along because we were players from the same area in the same era,” the Bruins coach said. “He was a tremendous player. When he got done with his NBA career, he got into coaching. He’s been on the bench (as an assistant) at Kansas for years, and everyone knows about the tradition there. He’s been around winning as a player and as a coach his whole life.”
Their paths first crossed three decades ago, when they were among 74 players invited to the Olympic trials in Bloomington, Ind. Manning was one of just two high school players there.
“I got cut from that team,” he said. “I wasn’t good enough.”
Alford, who at 19 had just finished his freshman season at Indiana, earned a spot on the 12-man roster. Alongside Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and other future basketball luminaries, he earned a gold medal in Los Angeles. Alford lasted only four seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors but remains a legend in his home state.
Manning wasn’t overshadowed. He never won gold and settled for a bronze medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but his resume isn’t hurting: at Kansas, two All-America first-team selections, the Wooden Award and the Naismith; in the pros, two All-Star mentions and Sixth Man of the Year.
Alford took Indiana to an NCAA championship in 1987. Manning powered Kansas down that same path a year later.
The parallels don’t end there.
They have earned boos thanks to their fathers. Steve played for Sam Alford at New Castle (Ind.) Chrysler High and heard jeers every time he entered the game as a freshman. Rabid Indiana fans were turned off by the perception of nepotism, even if their target later became the state’s Mr. Basketball.
Before his senior year of high school, Manning moved from Greensboro, N.C., to Lawrence, Kan. Ed Manning had accepted an assistant coaching job on Larry Brown’s staff and Danny picked the Jayhawks. When Kansas faced North Carolina State in December 1985 at Greensboro Coliseum, the home crowd was ready. The 6,766 fans hammered him all game long, with one fan holding up a sign that read: “Go to Hell, Danny Manning.”
They now have sons trying to make their own marks on the NCAA tournament. Bryce Alford is UCLA’s backup point guard and will make his postseason debut after being selected to the Pac-12 all-freshman team. Evan Manning is a Kansas sophomore who has yet to play more than six minutes in a college game.
Danny Manning said he and Alford haven’t spoken since seeing each other in a parking lot after an AAU event months ago but exchange pleasantries every time they do.
“It’s a small fraternity,” Manning said.
INJURY UPDATE
UCLA freshman Wanaah Bail had surgery Tuesday to remove torn cartilage from his left knee, likely ending his season. He had surgery on the same knee last June and reinjured it on Monday.
The athletic but little-used 6-foot-9 forward, officially ruled out for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, is questionable to return in the postseason. Bail has logged 60 minutes this season but only 19 since the conference schedule began.
Tulsa’s Steve Repichowski has missed four games with a fractured left hand but has not yet been officially ruled out for the NCAA tournament. The 6-foot-5 reserve wing is shooting 34.9 percent from beyond the arc, second behind leading scorer James Woodard.
“We’ll know hopefully within the next day or so, or two days,” Manning said.
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