UNC Basketball: Sterling Manley 2018-19 season in review

In this edition of our UNC Basketball season review, we look at the injury-riddled sophomore campaign of backup center Sterling Manley.

Nassir Little | Rechon Black |

Sterling Manley entered his sophomore year in a dead heat for the starting center job, battling for the lion’s share of frontcourt minutes with fellow sophomore Garrison Brooks. For Roy Williams, the decision would not be an easy one, with both players presenting their own strengths and flaws while on the floor. Would Williams go with the superior height/length and interior defense from Manley, or would he go with the energetic motor and mobility of Brooks?

A pair of exhibition games in the Bahamas hinted that Manley was the man (pardon the pun) for the job, starting both games for the Tar Heels.

For some, this move wasn’t unexpected. Although Brooks himself had a productive freshman campaign, Manley boasted superior stats in essentially all categories: net rating (+15.6 to +4.6), individual offense (82nd percentile to 59th percentile, per Synergy), individual defense (93rd percentile to 33rd percentile), at-rim finishing (72 FG% to 67.1 FG%, per hoop-math), and per-minute production.

The choice for starting center seemed obvious. Yet, a combination of conditioning issues and injury concerns would limit Manley to a bench role, with Brooks taking and running away with the starting center gig for the rest of the season. Making matters worse for the 6-11 big, Manley would struggle with health for a large chunk of the season, missing a string of 18 consecutive games due to lingering soreness in his left knee.

Manley’s season was one with more lows than highs, but nonetheless, there are still things we can take away from his sophomore campaign, despite how short and incomplete it was.

The Good

Manley opened the season strong as a key reserve, posting averages of 4.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 11.6 minutes per game through his first 12 games. His length really stood out against smaller opponents in non-conference play, proving himself to be a reliable rebounder and the team’s best rim protector, especially when considering the size advantage he has on the rest of his teammates (Manley is 6-11; his frontcourt counterparts Luke Maye, Cameron Johnson and Garrison Brooks are all 6-9 or 6-8).

The sophomore center showed flashes of both improved interior defense and at-rim finishing (84.2 FG%) due to his soft touch, encouraging signs that he was indeed turning into a valuable contributor for a team hoping to contend for a national championship.

Past contenders under Roy Williams had several commonalities, perhaps the largest being the presence of a strong frontcourt.

Manley’s improvement gave hope that he would, at least in the future as a junior and senior, become a valuable player that could help UNC reach its lofty expectations of collegiate glory.

The Bad

Yet, as promising as his production was, Manley’s health would hold him back tremendously. After playing 12 games, Manley suddenly began a string of absences, with the culprit being the vaguely-termed “knee soreness” that persisted for two months, forcing Manley to miss half of his sophomore campaign.

What is so troubling about the soreness is the lack of information that has been released to the public — the injury seems random, and it’s certainly possible that the team itself may not understand the true cause of said soreness.

It’s uncertain whether or not the team held him out so long due to precautionary measures or if he was held out because of the extent of the soreness. Whatever the reason, having a 6-foot-11 big dealing with chronic leg issues is never a good sign, especially for someone so young and promising as Manley.

Essentially, his second year of collegiate play was robbed from him because of injury, which is a developmental setback that is truly unfortunate. Instead of spending hours on- and off-court working on his game, he spent hours rehabilitating and getting to the point of even playing again. After playing 139 over his first 12 games, he only played 10 total minutes in the six games following his return (including three minutes of conference play), finishing the season with averages of 3.5 points and 2.9 rebounds.

As far as his actual on-court production goes, Manley still needs to improve around the basket. Although his at-rim finishing is good, he still struggles as a post scorer despite possessing good touch. He may be the team’s tallest player, but he doesn’t play like it on a consistent basis. When attempting to score against large players in the post he often refuses to play with strength, opting to make his shots tougher than they should be.

Rather than scoring through players and utilizing his strength and length, he’ll instead contort his body while shooting, playing much smaller than he really is.

As a whole, the team struggled with post scoring outside of Luke Maye, with both Manley and Brooks failing to score around the basket unless they were putting up layups and dunks. Manley will need to improve his strength and post moves if he is to become a regular contributor on offense, especially if he expects to have a larger role next year.

Best Game

The second game of the season saw the Tar Heels travel to Elon in what ended as a dominant UNC victory, with multiple players (the whole team, really) sporting strong numbers. Sterling Manley was no exception, putting up 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting and hauling in eight rebounds in 15 minutes.

The game, although pretty uncompetitive after UNC got hot from the floor after the first few minutes, was still a good example of what Manley is capable of doing for the Heels. He ripped rebounds away from smaller forwards, scored over the top of opposing defenders, and did a good job gaining position underneath the basket, both for the sake of scoring, rebounding, and creating driving lanes for teammates.

What The Future Holds

Recovering completely and reaching full health should be Manley’s No. 1 priority, above all else.

Health has been a concern for the 6-foot-11 big for some time, spanning back to his years as a high schooler where he dealt with a broken leg on two separate occasions. Considering his track record, it may be fair — yet sad — to say that injury issues may be the new norm, with his legs being the prime weakness for a player his size.

History says that for big forwards/centers, injuries aren’t uncommon, especially to the lower extremities — that’s certainly the case for Manley.

UNC’s coaching and training staffs should do all that they can to help Manley improve his strength and conditioning entering his junior year so that the potential of future injuries can be lessened. Injuries can be somewhat unpredictable, but past track records are often a strong indicator for the ability for a player to get hurt. Some players are just snakebitten, as depressing as that may sound.

Of course, we hope that Manley can overcome his past troubles. He’s a hard worker, to be sure, so we fully expect him to do all that he can to get his body in the best shape possible, although it may take time to accomplish.

Manley entered his sophomore season in the midst of a battle for a starting role, and he’ll be doing the same next season with the addition of five-star center Armando Bacot. It’s fair to assume that coach Williams will favor seniority at first, with Manley starting out the pre-season as the starting center, but there’s no guarantee that he holds onto the position.

Bacot himself is a fine player, possessing advanced footwork and feel in the low-post and showing flashes of defensive instincts. Manley figures to be the superior defender, but it’s possible that Williams grows to favor low-post scoring from his starting center instead of interior defense.

Much is yet to be determined for Sterling Manley. Health, conditioning, and strength should be his biggest priorities this summer, with a starting job on the line next year. Whether he starts or comes off the bench next season, he nonetheless projects to be a key player for a UNC team that will be losing five of its best players. Starter or not, he’ll be playing a big role regardless.

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