Brady Manek
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Brady Reece Manek (born September 4, 1998) is an American professional
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player for the
Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...
of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
for the
Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...
and the North Carolina Tar Heels.


Early life and high school career

Manek was born and raised in
Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest ci ...
and started playing basketball from a young age against older competition. He often played against future college teammate
Trae Young Rayford Trae Young (born September 19, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. In 2017, he tied the then-reco ...
while attending elementary school. His family moved to Harrah, Oklahoma, where he began playing varsity basketball for Harrah High School in his freshman season. Between his freshman and sophomore years, Manek greatly improved his dunking ability. He was named Little All-City Player of the Year by ''
The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th large ...
'' in each of his final two seasons. As a senior, Manek averaged 24.3 points and 11.6 rebounds, leading Harrah to the state quarterfinals. Rated either a three-star and four-star
recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...
by several services, he committed to play
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
for Oklahoma after his sophomore season of high school.


College career


Oklahoma

As a freshman at Oklahoma, Manek averaged 10.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 32 appearances. He and Trae Young were the highest scoring freshman duo in the
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...
. Manek recorded 59 three-pointers, the fourth-most by a freshman in school history. In his sophomore season, he made national headlines for his resemblance to
Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...
. He averaged 12.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game as a sophomore and was an All-
Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...
Honorable Mention selection. On January 18, 2020, Manek scored a career-high 31 points and seven three-pointers, while reaching 1,000 career points, in an 83–63 win over TCU. Manek scored 30 points on February 1, in an 82–69 victory over
Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
. As a junior, he averaged 14.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, earning Third Team All-Big 12 honors. In his senior season, Manek averaged 10.8 points and five rebounds per game. Following the season, he transferred to
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
.


North Carolina

After four years at Oklahoma, Manek transferred to North Carolina as a graduate student. He took advantage of the extra year of NCAA eligibility granted in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
to play in Chapel Hill. After being used primarily as the sixth man for the first part of the season, Manek was inserted to the starting lineup following an injury to Dawson Garcia. Manek's elevation to the starting five coincided with a turnaround in the Tar Heels' fortunes, as the team was able to play their way to a tie for second place in the ACC regular season standings and the third seed in the conference's
tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
. He scored 20 points in the Tar Heels' 94–81 victory in the regular-season finale against
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
. Following the regular season, Manek was named Honorable Mention All-ACC. In the first round of the NCAA tournament against Marquette, Manek scored a season-high 28 points, three shy of his career high. He scored 26 points in just 28 minutes of action against Baylor in the second round of the tournament. Manek was ejected from the game following a flagrant 2 foul on Baylor's Jeremy Sochan. At the time, the Tar Heels held a 25-point lead. Following the ejection, Baylor was able to come back and force overtime, but the Tar Heels held on and advanced to the Sweet 16, 93–86. On April 1, 2022, Manek was named as the recipient of the Riley Wallace Player of the Year Award, given to the top transfer player in college basketball.


Professional career


Perth Wildcats (2022–present)

After going undrafted in the
2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...
, Manek joined the Charlotte Hornets for the
2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campu ...
. On August 1, 2022, he signed with the
Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...
in Australia for the 2022–23 NBL season.


Career statistics


College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Oklahoma , , 32 , , 26 , , 23.7 , , .466 , , .383 , , .600 , , 5.2 , , .5 , , .3 , , .7 , , 10.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Oklahoma , , 34 , , 34 , , 27.8 , , .469 , , .358 , , .764 , , 5.9 , , .8 , , .7 , , .7 , , 12.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Oklahoma , , 31 , , 31 , , 30.5 , , .453 , , .380 , , .779 , , 6.2 , , .9 , , .5 , , 1.2 , , 14.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;", Oklahoma , , 25 , , 20 , , 25.1 , , .422 , , .375 , , .767 , , 5.0 , , .8 , , .5 , , .8 , , 10.8 , - class="sortbottom" , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
, , 39 , , 27 , , 30.4 , , .493 , , .403 , , .697 , , 6.1 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , .7 , , 15.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , , 161 , , 138 , , 27.7 , , .465 , , .382 , , .733 , , 5.7 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .8 , , 12.7


Personal life

Manek's older brother, Kellen, was his basketball teammate at Harrah High School for three years and played for
Oral Roberts Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christian televangelist, ordained in both the Pentecostal Holiness and United Methodist churches. He is considered one of the forerunners of t ...
and Southeastern Oklahoma State.


References


External links


NBL profileNorth Carolina Tar Heels bioOklahoma Sooners bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manek, Brady 1998 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American men's basketball players Basketball players from Oklahoma North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players Perth Wildcats players Power forwards (basketball) Small forwards Sportspeople from Edmond, Oklahoma