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UNC Basketball: Brady Manek recognized as nation’s top transfer player

By Blake Cockrum

Mar 17, 2022; Fort Worth, TX, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Brady Manek (45) reacts after a play against the Marquette Golden Eagles during the second half during the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2022; Fort Worth, TX, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Brady Manek (45) reacts after a play against the Marquette Golden Eagles during the second half during the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports /
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Brady Manek is on a one-year loan to the UNC basketball program and he’s made the absolute best of it.

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

Manek averaged 12 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for the Sooners, starting in 111 of his 122 appearances with the program. In four seasons at Oklahoma, Manek never shot worse than 42.2 percent from the floor and shot nearly 47 percent in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. From 2017-2021, Manek connected on 235 three-pointers, which is good for fifth all-time in Sooners history.

And even with all of that in mind, Manek still never came close to the kind of production he’s had for the Tar Heels as a fifth-year senior taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the Covid-19 affected 2019-20 season.

For his efforts, Manek has been named the Riley Wallace Award recipient for the 2021-22 season, recognizing him as the nation’s top impact transfer.

Past recipients of the award include Siena’s Elijah Burn, Buffalo’s Wes Clark, and Grand Canyon’s Grandy Glaze. This marks the first time in the award’s existence that the recipient has been from a Power 5 conference.

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On the season, Manek is 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). He’s been a key component of the Tar Heels’ late-season turnaround, one that’s seen them go from middling bubble team to Final Four participant.

It’s important to remember that Manek’s jump to North Carolina doesn’t happen without the mass exodus of Tar Heels at the end of last season. It was the departure of Garrison Brooks, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Walker Kessler that paved the way for Manek to come in and be a difference-maker for the Tar Heels.

It’s funny how the span of one year can change your entire perspective.

dark. Next. Could G.G. Jackson end up at UNC?

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