Brandy Manning is in his first season as an assistant coach for the Bobcats and will serve as the recruiting coordinator at Texas State.
Manning joins the Bobcats after spending a season as the associate head coach at USC. While with USC, Manning’s 2014 signed recruiting class was the No. 15 ranked class according to Prospects Nation. Prior to his time at USC, Manning spent five years, one as associate head coach and four as an assistant coach with the Arizona Wildcats. He served in the capacity of recruiting coordinator as well as working with Arizona’s defense, post players, opponent scouting, and player development.
Manning joined the Arizona coaching staff prior to the 2008-09 season after spending one season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Central Florida.
The 2013-14 Trojans finished the season with a 22-13 overall record and captured a No. 9 seed into their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2006 season. USC made their way to the big dance after following a historic run to the 2014 Pac-12 Tournament Championship. The Trojan’s Tournament Championship was the first-ever Pac-12 Tournament Championship in program history.
In his first season with the Wildcats, Manning helped lead them to their first postseason appearance since the 2004-05 season when Arizona earned a spot in the 2011 Women’s National Invitation Tournament. The following year, the Wildcats’ 11-1 start was the best in program history since 1999-2000. Arizona beat UCLA twice in 2012, marking Arizona’s first wins over the Bruins since 2006-07.
Overall, the Wildcats improved from 12 wins in 2008-09, to 14 wins in 2009-10, to 21 wins in 2010-11. In Pac-10 play, Arizona improved from four wins in 2008-09, to six wins in 2009-10, to 10 wins in 2010-11. The Wildcats’ 10-8 conference record for the 2010-11 season was their best since the 2004-05 campaign and their 21 wins overall was the most since the 2003-04 season. The 2010-11 season marked the highest finish in the Pac-10 for Arizona (fourth), since tying for the Pac-10 regular-season crown in 2004.
On the recruiting side, Manning has been responsible for adding many stellar student-athletes to his programs. With less than two months to assemble a recruiting class at Central Florida, he recruited eight players who were widely responsible for leading the Knights to the 2009 and 2011 Conference USA Championship and UCF’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years. At Arizona, Manning was instrumental in bringing in another talented crop of players, including 2010 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and the recent No. 16 pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, Davellyn Whyte.
Manning went to UCF from Murray State in Kentucky. He helped the Racers finish with a 21-10 record and earn a bid in the 2007 WNIT, marking just the second-ever postseason appearance for the program.
Manning also spent two years as a graduate assistant coach at Louisville from 2003-05. During that time, the Cardinals posted a record of 42-19 and advanced to the 2005 Conference USA Championship game. Louisville earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament in 2005 after participating in the WNIT the season prior.
Manning, a native of Stockton, Calif., graduated from Clark Atlanta in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. He also holds a master’s degree in education from Louisville. He and his wife, Nakaya, have sons, Brandyn and Quintyn, and a daughter, Devyn.
