North Carolina's Brady Manek wins Riley Wallace Award
With an emphasis on the transfer portal the likes of which have never been seen in collegiate athletics, the success of a team is slowly becoming predicated on how well the veteran transfers perform down the stretch. If you need proof, just look at North Carolina‘s Final Four run with Oklahoma transfer Brady Manek, who has been named the 2021-22 Riley Wallace Award winner, which is presented to the top transfer in Division I college basketball.
Manek is averaging 15.2 points and 5.9 rebounds this season on a 49.5 percent clip — not to mention a 39.8 percent 3-point shot, which is slightly above his career-high mark set in his freshman season.
The Oklahoma native has lead the Tar Heels with 92 3-pointers as well as in 3-point percentage, ranking third on the team in scoring behind Armando Bacot (16.5) and Caleb Love (15.7). He has scored 86 points in UNC’s four NCAA Tournament wins, more than any other player in March Madness this season.
His production didn’t just come out of left field after transferring to North Carolina, during his four season as a Sooner, Manek averaged 12 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and started in 111 of 122 total appearances with the program. Manek never shot worse than 42.2 percent from the floor and shot nearly 47 percent in both his freshman and sophomore seasons at Oklahoma. From 2017-2021, Manek connected on 235 three-pointers, good for fifth all-time in Sooners history.
With the graduate transfer having over 250 collegiate basketball games under his belt, Saturday sets the scene for the biggest, most anticipated game of Manek’s career — North Carolina vs. Duke in the Final Four. Tipoff is set for 8:49 p.m. ET live on TBS following the conclusion of Villanova vs. Kansas with the winners of both advancing to the national title game Monday night.