Danny Manning grew up watching Wake Forest play games at the Greensboro Coliseum, memories that linger in his mind all these years later. Authentic Dane Cruikshank 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." Cheap Titans Jerseys Authentic .S. womens soccer team to a 2-0 win over China in Colorado in the afternoon. Authentic Luke Falk Jersey . On Thursday, they signed former Browns linebacker DQwell Jackson. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. http://www.cheaptitansjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-harold-landry-jersey .com) - Mike Conley scored 20 points with five assists to help the Memphis Grizzlies remain unbeaten with a 91-89 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Texas Rangers took an 8-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in their first road game of the season Friday night, and it was an especially bad night for first baseman Prince Fielder and pitcher Joe Saunders. "It was just one of those days," said Fielder, who had one of the Rangers three errors and a base-running mistake that took Texas out of a possible big inning. "Everyone played hard, we made mistakes here and there. It just didnt go our way. Its nothing that you cant really see. Weve just got to come back tomorrow and fix it." Saunders (0-1) left in the fourth inning with a bruised left ankle after getting hit by Evan Longorias liner. Saunders gave up five runs and six hits, including a three-run home run to Sean Rodriguez, in 3 2-3 innings. "I think I was trying to be too fine early in the game," Saunders said. "The pitch to Rodriguez was a decent pitch; he just put a good swing on it. Probably the wrong pitch at the wrong time." Rodriguez tied a career-high with four RBIs and Jake Odorizzi got his first major league win for the Rays (3-2). Rodriguez was back in the lineup after missing Thursday nights 7-2 win over Toronto for the birth of his son. Odorizzi (1-0) allowed three hits in six innings in his seventh big league start and 10th game overall. Ryan Hanigan hit a three-run homer during the fifth for the Rays. Fielder got his first RBI since Sept. 22, a drought of 20 regular and post-season games, with a run-scoring single in the eighth. But the Rangers (2-2) wasted a great scoring opportunity in the fourth, when they were down 4-0. With runners on first and second and one out, Mitch Moreland singled into the right-fieeld corner, but Fielder got tagged out in a rundown between third and home. Wholesale Titans Jerseys. "Prince just blew it. He just messed up. Thats all you can say about it," said manager Ron Washington. "I just didnt get a good jump," Fielder said. "It was my fault." The inning ended when Donnie Murphy struck out. Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre committed the other Rangers errors. "It was obvious during training that every time we made a mistake it cost us," Washington said. "We certainly have to tighten down our defence. We dont have a pitching staff that strikes people out right now and we certainly cant have them getting four outs an inning. So that certainly has to get better, and it will." Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon won his first replay reversal in the seventh after it was first ruled that right fielder Wil Myers didnt make the catch while sliding forward on J.P. Arencibias two-out flare. After a 1-minute, 43-second delay, the umpires changed the call to an out. Notes: Texas RHP Nick Martinez will make his major league debut in Saturday nights game against the Rays. "Go out there and relax, and use his pitches," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Get us as many outs as you can. Be out there as long as you can. Believing in himself, believing in the stuff he has, and using it." ... LHP David Price will start Saturday for the Rays. ... Rangers LHP Matt Harrison (back) will make his next minor league start Tuesday. He went two innings in a rain-shortened outing Thursday for Double-A Frisco. ... Tampa Bay sent RHP Juan Carlos Oviedo (elbow ligament replacement surgery) to Triple-A Durham on a rehab assignment. Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Braves Jerseys Cheap Orioles Jerseys Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap White Sox Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Indians Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Tigers Jerseys Cheap Astros Jerseys Cheap Royals Jerseys Cheap Angels Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys ' ' '