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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. Carlos Gonzalez Jersey . 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." Charlie Blackmon Jersey . New York secured second place in the Metropolitan Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season. Todd Helton Jersey . The Canadian tennis players first full season on the WTA Tour was a strong one. She has risen to No. 32 in the world rankings and will likely be seeded at the first Grand Slam event of the 2014 season. http://www.rockiesapparelsshop.com/jon-gray-jersey-c-17/ . We wonder if the price of a Roberts rookie card has at least gone up a few cents? Tribute Tweets #Padres Tony Gwynn had 287 career plate appearances against #Braves trio of Maddux, Glavine, & Smoltz, he hit .Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, three- time runner-up Andy Murray and four-time champion Roger Federer were among Thursdays winners, while fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro was a stunning second-round loser on another brutally hot day at the Australian Open. On a day when the temperature soared to a sweltering 110 degrees and the show courts were covered by their retractable roofs, the 2009 champion Nadal put on a clinic in beating 17-year-old Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena. "Very happy to see the roof out there today," Nadal said. The reigning U.S. and French Open champion, who was a runner-up at Melbourne Park two years ago, will meet oft-injured, flashy former top-10 Frenchman Gael Monfils on Saturday. Nadal beat Monfils in a final at an Aussie Open tune-up in Doha just two weeks ago. The stifling weather on Day 4 resulted in the tournaments Extreme Heat Policy being put into effect, suspending action on the outside courts for a few hours. And there was also some rain, lightning and thunder on a wild- weather Thursday. The biggest shock of the first four days occurred early Friday morning in Melbourne when capable Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut toppled the former U.S. Open champion del Potro 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, with play wrapping up at 1:20 a.m. local time. Bautista Agut set himself up with a match point via ace, moving the score to 40-15 in the 12th game of the final set, and sent del Potro packing when the big Argentine netted one final forehand return after 3 hours, 50 minutes. The 6-foot-6 "Delpo" has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals in Melbourne and exited in the third round here last year. Meanwhile, a fourth-seeded Murray got past game Frenchman Vincent Millot 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 at Laver, where the roof was re-opened after the weather improved. Murray won the last 23 points of the match to come back from 1-5 down in the third set. "It was 6-5 when I went to serve for it, and someone shouted out, You won 19 in a row," Murray said. "I would say thats probably the most Id ever won in my career by far. I dont really know how I did it." The two-time major titlist and reigning Wimbledon champion lost to Novak Djokovic in last years marquee Aussie finale. Murrays third-round opponent will be Spanish left-hander Feliciano Lopez. The sixth-seeded former No. 1 Federer played under the roof at Hisense Arena and dismissed Slovenias Blaz Kavcic 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) for his 70th career win at the Aussie Open (70-. The 17-time Grand Slam king is seeking his first Aussie title since 2010. Federer said he didnt mind thhe switch to Hisense after hed played 63 consecutive matches at Laver Arena since 2004. Nolan Arenado Jersey. . "It was nice ... its not really different to Rod Laver Arena really," Federer said. "Dimensions feel the same, the crowds were really nice, great atmosphere. I was happy playing there." The 32-year-old Federer will return to the court against Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili on Saturday. Tenth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 runner-up to Djokovic, topped Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-4, while 11th- seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic downed Romanian veteran Victor Hanescu 7-6 (11-9), 6-4, 6-4. Tsonga will take on fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon, while Raonic will tangle with rising Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 32. Sixteenth-seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori reached the third round by besting Serb Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) prior to the suspension of play. Nishikoris next opponent will be American Donald Young, who upset 24th-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. In other action involving seeds, a No. 18 Simon outlasted Croat Marin Cilic 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-2; the No. 22 Dimitrov defeated Taiwans Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (13-11); a No. 25 Monfils sacked American Jack Sock 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, 6-2; a No. 26 Lopez erased German Michael Berrer 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4; No. 27 Frenchman Benoit Paire fought back to stop promising 18- year-old Nick Kyrgios, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in the final result of the day; and Gabashvili took out No. 31 Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Paire-Kyrgios ended at 1:40 a.m. after 3 hours, 20 minutes. Paires third-round opponent will be the sweet-swinging Bautista Agut. Two other results saw Frances Stephane Robert get past Pole Michal Przysiezny 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1 and Slovak Martin Klizan beat Slovenian Blaz Rola 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2). Robert and Klizan will square off on Day 6. Also on Thursday, it was learned that eighth seed Stan Wawrinka received a walkover into the fourth round when 28th-seeded Canadian Vasek Pospisil pulled out of the draw. The third round will get underway Friday, including a match for the second- seeded former world No. 1 Djokovic. Seeking a fourth straight and fifth overall Aussie Open title, the Serbian superstar will battle Uzbekistans Denis Istomin on Day 5. In other action involving top-10 seeds,No. 3 David Ferrer will take on 29th- seeded fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, No. 7 Tomas Berdych will face Bosnias Damir Dzumhur and No. 9 Richard Gasquet will be opposed by 1th-seeded former top-10 star Tommy Robredo. 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