UNC Basketball: Brady Manek saved his best for last

A solid four-year player at the University of Oklahoma, Brady Manek has become a full-fledged star for the UNC basketball program.

Brady Manek was a four-year starter for the Oklahoma Sooners before transferring to the University of North Carolina in the summer of 2021 for his fifth and final season of college basketball.

He was a key member of the Sooners from 2017 to 2021, playing in 122 games and starting in 111 of them. He averaged 12 points and 5.6 rebounds per game through four seasons in Norman and ranks fifth all-time in made three-pointers in Sooners history with 235. He never shot worse than 42.2 percent in a season at Oklahoma and twice shot upwards of 47 percent.

And as good as he was during that stretch, it doesn’t touch what he’s been able to accomplish in less than a year with the Tar Heels.

After starting just one game over the season’s first two months, Manek has started 24 consecutive games since a January 5 contest with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend. In that time, he’s notched double-digit points in 21 games and scored at least 20 on eight occasions. He’s connected on three or more three-pointers 14 times during that stretch, something he did just 36 times in 122 games at Oklahoma.

He’s averaging career-highs in points (15.2), assists (1.9), shooting percentage (49.5), two-point percentage (61.0), and three-point percentage (39.8). And statistics aside, Manek has been one of the most pivotal members of a UNC team that seemingly rose from the ashes three-quarters of the way through the season to make one of the most improbable Final Four runs in program history.

In doing so, and in addition to the kind of teammate and leader he’s been over the past five months, he’s also become a UNC fan favorite. He’s already being talked about as one of the top transfer players to ever come through the program despite getting just a year of eligibility at UNC.

Manek’s not done yet and North Carolina fans are hoping they get two more games out of him before his time in Chapel Hill is over. If the Tar Heels end their season with a net-cutting ceremony in New Orleans, there’s a good chance that Manek played a big part in it.

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