Ed Manning, father of Danny and ex-KU assistant, dead at 68
By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star
Ed Manning, the father of Danny Manning and a former Kansas assistant coach, died Friday morning in Fort Worth, Texas, of complications relating to a long-standing heart condition.
Ed Manning was 68.
“This is a huge loss for our family and the Jayhawk family,” Danny Manning, a current KU assistant, said in news release. “Many people have already reached out to us in such a short period, and we are very grateful for all the thoughts, well wishes and prayers for my father and for us.”
Services for Ed Manning are pending. Danny Manning is on the Jayhawks’ trip to Columbia for today’s KU-Missouri game and will catch up with his family after the game, which tips off at 11 a.m.
“Today, KU not only lost someone who was very instrumental to the success of Kansas basketball in the mid-1980s but also a very good man who was thought of so highly by everyone who came in contact with him,” said KU coach Bill Self, who was a graduate assistant at Kansas from 1985 to 1986. “In my brief time here, every player and every coach had nothing but the utmost respect for Ed. He was a coach who every player felt they could go talk to, and he always had their best interest at heart. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Manning family.”
Former KU coach Larry Brown hired Ed to be his assistant in 1983, when Danny was a senior in high school in North Carolina and one of the most talented recruits in the country.
According to a Sports Illustrated article, Ed, a former professional basketball player, had been a truck driver for the preceding three years. Danny moved to Lawrence to finish his high school career at Lawrence High, and he soon committed to the Jayhawks.
Four years later, in his senior season of 1988, Danny led KU to the national championship.
Brown left for the San Antonio Spurs the next season, and Ed Manning followed him there. Ed Manning most recently worked as an NBA scout.