The Miracle at Midfield — led the 11-seed Kansas Jayhawks to the 1988 national championship.
Danny Ricardo Manning was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1966 and attended the University of Kansas under coach Larry Brown. His college career produced the most remarkable individual performance in the history of the tournament. In 1988 Kansas entered the NCAA Tournament as an 11th seed with a 21-11 record — a team so undermanned that Manning carried them almost singlehandedly. He averaged 27.3 points per game across the tournament, leading Kansas to six victories including upsets of Duke, Purdue and Oklahoma to win the national championship 83-79 against Oklahoma. The run was dubbed Danny and the Miracles by Sports Illustrated. He was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player and won the Naismith Award as national player of the year. His four-year Kansas career produced 20.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Los Angeles Clippers selected him first overall in the 1988 NBA Draft. A torn ACL in his first NBA season disrupted his professional trajectory. His college career — particularly that 1988 tournament run where he personally carried an 11-seed to the championship — remains the greatest individual tournament performance in the sport's history.
National Championship (1988)
Career Honours
- National Championship (1988)
- Naismith Award (1988)
- Tournament MOP (1988)
- Player of Year 2x