Danny Manning grew up watching Wake Forest play games at the Greensboro Coliseum, memories that linger in his mind all these years later. He never thought one day hed coach the Demon Deacons. Manning, the former Kansas star who spent the past two seasons coaching Tulsa, was hired Friday as Wake Forests basketball coach. Hell be introduced at a news conference next week on campus in Winston-Salem, N.C., a short drive from where Manning grew up. "I spent a lot of my formative childhood years in North Carolina," Manning told The Associated Press on Friday at AT&T Stadium, the site of this weekends Final Four. "I spent the majority of my life in Kansas," Manning said, "but this was a chance to be a part of a university that I share the same values and history with." His hiring ends Wake Forests two-week search for a replacement for Jeff Bzdelik, who resigned under intense public pressure following four mostly unremarkable seasons. Manning, who was 38-29 with two post-season berths in two seasons at Tulsa, interviewed this week and toured the campus in Winston-Salem on Wednesday before taking the job two days later. His hiring is considered somewhat risky because of his lack of head coaching experience, but theres no question he brings instant name recognition to a program that dropped to near the bottom of the expanded Atlantic Coast Conference. "There have been very few players who have had as much success on the court as Danny," Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman said in a statement. "He has played for and worked under a number of legendary coaches and he has been successful in his coaching career. We fully expect that Dannys coaching career will reflect the excellence of his playing career." Manning attended Greensboro Page High School before his family moved to Lawrence, Kan., for his senior year, and when it was time to choose a college, he picked Kansas over North Carolina. After his "Danny and the Miracles" team won the national title in Kansas City, not far from the Jayhawks campus, Manning was drafted first overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1988. He made two All-Star teams during a career marred by injuries before joining coach Bill Selfs staff at Kansas in 2003. Responsible primarily for working with post players, Manning was promoted to assistant coach in 2006 and two years ago earned his first head coaching job at Tulsa. Self called Manning "one of the most accomplished, humble people youll ever meet." The 47-year-old Manning took the Golden Hurricane to the CBI in his first year and followed that by guiding them to the Conference USA tournament title and their first NCAA tournament berth since 2003. They earned a No. 13 seed and lost to UCLA in their tournament opener. Tulsa forward Rashad Smith said he found out about Mannings move through teammates and media reports, though he said the coach texted him shortly thereafter. Guard James Woodard said it was "kind of shocking. "You know in the back of your mind, the run we had this year, there would be a lot of opportunities out there," Woodard said. "Im happy for him." Wake Forest never came close to making the NCAA tournament under Bzdelik, who stepped down March 20. Bzdelik went 51-76 with a 17-51 record in ACC play, and won only two league road games. Eight players transferred out during his tenure, and the Demon Deacons have been one of the youngest programs in the country -- with only one fourth-year senior in each of the past two years. Barring any more transfers, Manning will inherit a team with eight players who are either juniors or redshirt juniors -- including promising big man Devin Thomas and tempo-setting guard Codi Miller-McIntyre. As details of Mannings hiring trickled across Twitter, Miller-McIntyre tweeted: "Finally its over! Time to get back to work." Manning called the Demon Deacons a "sleeping giant," one that he believes will be able to contend with Tobacco Road rivals Duke and North Carolina in the near future. "A few years back, they were ranked No. 1 in the country," Manning told AP. "Theyve had great players. Youre about Chris Paul, Tim Duncan, just to name a few, because theyve had quite a few. "Im looking forward to going there and being part of that great tradition." Grossiste Chaussure Pas Cher . "All he says is, its crazy," DeMar DeRozan told reporters following Torontos win over the Pistons Wednesday. The Raptors longest-serving members, Johnson and DeRozan have had two coaches and 56 different teammates in five seasons with the club, all without appearing in a single playoff game. Air Max 95 Homme Pas Cher . Bale has had a successful debut season in Spain, and Ancelotti appears ready to reward him with a starting role on Saturday. 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Ellis had a season-high 37 points and two key assists late, Dirk Nowitzki led a fourth-quarter rally with 14 of his 35 points, and the Mavericks spoiled Howards best offensive night in Houston with a 123-120 victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night.HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A handcuffed Jerry Sandusky testified by video link for nearly three hours Tuesday about his Penn State retirement deal and ties between the university and the youth charity he founded, as a hearing began to determine if he should get retirement benefits cancelled over his child molestation conviction. Speaking from the western Pennsylvania prison where he is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence, Sandusky described how he retired from Penn State in mid-1999 to take advantage of an early retirement incentive, and then was immediately rehired on a temporary basis to coach one last season. A hearing examiner is taking evidence about the post-retirement benefits Sandusky received and the universitys connection to The Second Mile charity as part of Sanduskys appeal of the pension forfeiture. Sandusky said that after the 1999 season, he never received another paycheque or W-2 tax form from Penn State, never held himself out to be a Penn State employee and was even given a retirement party. At issue is whether he could be considered a school employee about a decade later, when he committed sex crimes against two boys that meet the states standards for forfeiture. Sandusky disputed documents that claim he received dozens of payments from Penn State after 1999. "I dont know the exact number for sure, but I know it was in the neighbourhood of three," he said. "It was far from 71." Sandusky was the only witness called by his lawyers, and the afternoon session began with a retirement system employee reading a timeline that outlined the former coachs history with the pension agency, starting when he was hired by Penn State in 1969. He lost a $4,900-a-month pension in October 2012, the day he was sentenced for 45 counts of child sexual abuse. The decision also precluded his wife, Dottie Sandusky, from collecting benefits. She attended the hearing Tuesday in Harrisburg. The State Employees Retirement System (SERS) ruled that his convictions for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault fell under Pennsylvanias Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act. Sandusky had opted to participate in the state-sponsored retirement system while at Penn State, which is a "state-related" university, but he was not a state employee. At the heart of the dispute is whether Sanduskys ties to the university after his retirement, including some payments, made him a "de facto" Penn State employee while committing the crimes in question. His lawyer has argued he was not and that his employment contract was not renewed after the forfeiture law took effect in 1978 so its terms do not apply to him. Sandusky attorney Charles Benjamin has said Penn State made only six payments to Sandusky between 2000 and 2008, and three of them involved travel costs. The other three were speaking fees of $100, $300 and $1,500. In a Dec. 9 filing, Benjamin also argued that Sandusky did not fit the definition of "school employee" under the forfeiture law. "No reported case in the history of Pennsylvania jurisprudence has ever applied a de facto employee analysis to deny someone his retirement earnings, and SERS should not bow to political pressure and mob rule to deny claimant his retirement earnings," Benjamin wrote. In recent weeks, there was a dispute over the SERS witness list, which included two former Penn State administrators facing alllegations of a criminal coverup about Sandusky, former athletic director Tim Curley and former vice-president Gary Schultz.dddddddddddd A SERS lawyer said at the start of the hearing that both men asserted their Fifth Amendment rights not to testify. There is currently no trial date set for Curley and Schultz, who are being prosecuted in the Dauphin County Courthouse, about two blocks from the SERS headquarters. It likely will be several months before the hearing examiner, Michael Bangs, produces his written recommendation to the retirement system board. If the board rules against Sandusky, he may appeal to Commonwealth Court. Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by Joe Paternos family and others against the NCAA needs the schools involvement in order for parts of it to proceed, a state judge ruled Tuesday. The 25-page opinion by Judge John Leete delivered a mixed decision by dismissing some elements, keeping others alive and leaving the door open for an amended lawsuit to be filed. Leete said breach of contract claims, however, cannot continue without Penn States participation because the school is an "indispensable party," given that the lawsuit could affect the universitys interests and contractual rights. The lawsuit seeks to void a consent decree between the NCAA and Penn State over handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, an agreement that imposed a $60 million fine, a four-year ban on post-season play, a reduction in scholarships and other penalties. "If the consent decree is declared void, as plaintiffs request, Penn State would lose the benefits it bargained for, including avoiding harsher sanctions and limiting further loss that could result from a prolonged investigation," Leete wrote. He added that the NCAA had indicated earlier that the football program could be shut down if the decree was invalidated. Paterno family attorney Wick Sollers said the decision allows the critical claims in the lawsuit to go forward. The ruling will let "the bright light of legal discovery" shine on the facts and records, he said. Paterno died in 2012, weeks after the scandal erupted and he was fired as football coach. A Penn State spokesman declined to comment. "We are exceedingly pleased that the court rejected the plaintiffs effort to undo the consent decree," NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy said in a statement. "As this was the last remaining legal challenge to the validity of the consent decree, we hope the courts decision finally brings closure to this issue and allows the Penn State community to continue to move forward under the consent decree and the athletic integrity agreement." The judge threw out a claim of interference with contractual relations but kept in place civil conspiracy and commercial disparagement elements. "Plaintiffs identified disparaging statements accusing Joe Paterno of enabling and concealing child sexual abuse and knowledge or reckless disregard with respect to their falsity," Leete wrote. He said that although the family did not meet a legal standard generally required in disparagement claims, the requirement is lifted when the disparaging statements are libelous. Leete also tossed parts of the defamation allegations, except as they apply to university trustee Alvin Clemens and two former coaches who sued, William Kenney and Jay Paterno, Joe Paternos son. ' ' '