Final Four 2022: Brady Manek’s transfer to North Carolina from Oklahoma was perfect timing
The road to North Carolina for Brady Manek centered around perfect timing for the Oklahoma transfer, who left the Sooners in spring 2021 for the Tar Heels and is now one of the Final Four’s spotlighted players entering Saturday night’s showdown against Duke. This week, Inside Carolina’s Sherrell McMillan detailed the final hours of Manek’s decision leading to his commitment to North Carolina over two other programs. McMillan says soon after coach Hubert Davis got the job, he started contacting guys in the portal and wanted to upgrade the roster to fit his style.
Davis was looking for a stretch forward and the Tar Heels had honed in on Justin McCoy from Virginia, Creighton’s Christian Bishop and Manek, with a plan to sign two of those players.
“UNC made it clear that because McCoy had already committed they really had one spot for another four-man,” McMillan said. “Bishop had talked to Hubert Davis and had good conversions and Brady Manek the same thing, but I think it was Christian Bishop ending up committing on a Saturday. The intel we were getting was that it was Kansas, Texas and then UNC (for Manek).”
McMillan said North Carolina then used “ammunition” knowing the Bishop’s decision was coming Saturday to tell Manek that Friday the time was now to make his decision since the Tar Heels were only taking one more player.
Manek committed and the rest is history. Manek said last weekend following the Tar Heels’ win over Saint Peter’s that his decision came down to a family call. “Yeah, it was definitely a thought that went through all of our heads,” Manek said of moving so far away from relatives for his final year. “It really came down to ‘What is my situation going to look like? Is it going to be worth it?’ I decided to come here, but before I decided to come here, me, my mom, my dad, my brother and I made sure that everyone was fully aware that it is a family decision that if I am a bust and this year sucks that we’re not going to point fingers at me and say ‘I should have done this, I should have done this — we’re all going to agree on one thing and that’s what’s going to happen. They supported the idea of coming to Carolina and it’s worked out for all of us.” Manek had monster games in the Tar Heels’ first two games of the NCAA Tournament. He netted 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Marquette and followed that up with a 26-point performance against Baylor — a game he was ejected from due to a flagrant foul. Against UCLA, he scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds, then managed a 19-point, eight-rebound effort vs. Saint Peter’s.
