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UNC Basketball: Sterling Manley enters NCAA transfer portal

By Blake Cockrum

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 11: Sterling Manley #21 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts during the second half of a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at the Dean Smith Center on February 11, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 69-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 11: Sterling Manley #21 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts during the second half of a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at the Dean Smith Center on February 11, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 69-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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Sterling Manley is leaving the UNC basketball program, and will enter the NCAA transfer portal.

After four injury-plagued years at the University of North Carolina, Sterling Manley’s career with the Tar Heels has come to an end. The 6-foot-11, 255-pound redshirt junior announced on Friday night that he intends to leave the school, and enter the NCAA transfer portal.

Manley, a native of Pickerington, Ohio, has two years of college eligibility left as a result of a medical redshirt last year, and the NCAA granting an additional season to all student-athletes due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

"“First I want to thank God for allowing me to live my dreams and play basketball at the University of North Carolina. I have enjoyed my time here,” Manley said in a statement. “The relationships I’ve developed are priceless. My teammates will always be my brothers and I will always be a Tar Heel.My journey has been a little different, but with God, the great staff here at UNC, and my awesome family, I have been able to persevere and continue to live my dream. I’ve been blessed to have four years at the University of North Carolina and it has been nothing short of amazing, but with lots of prayer and the guidance of my family, I’ve decided to take my talents and move elsewhere after I graduate this year.”"

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https://twitter.com/Sterling_Manley/status/1375591059565248515

After a promising freshman season that included 37 appearances on a UNC squad that won 26 games, Manley participated in 18 games as a sophomore, and just three games over the past two years. He averaged 5.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game during the 2017-18 season, and hit 56.6 percent of his shots.

He had the look of a player that was going to play major minutes for the Tar Heels in the years ahead, and fight for a spot in the starting lineup. And had it not been for countless injuries that kept him sidelined for the better part of three years, he would have. Manley, by all accounts, has a considerable amount of skill, and the kind of size that simply cannot be taught.

And we here at Keeping It Heel wish him all the best in his future endeavors, and will root for him for the rest of his career.

Next. Caleb Love returning to Chapel Hill?. dark

Check back with us for future updates of Sterling Manley, and everything UNC basketball.

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