Kansas basketball: 5 Jayhawks who didn’t live up to the NBA hype

1. Kansas basketball NBA busts: Danny Manning

This one hurts just to type out since Danny Manning is one of the best Jayhawks ever to play at Kansas. Arguably the best player Kansas has had outside of Wilt Chamberlain, Manning secured his place in Jayhawks’ lore as the star of the 1988 national champions.

One of the worst Kansas teams to ever make the tournament, the 1988 Jayhawks were willed to a championship as Manning put together an outstanding performance in March. The team came to be referred to as “Danny and the Miracles” since they had the most losses ever by a national title-winner.

Fresh off his historic March, Manning was a shoo-in for a high lottery pick in the NBA Draft. The Los Angeles Clippers took Manning with the top pick in 1988, but his career got off to an ominous start when he tore his ACL after just 26 games.

That would be the first of many knee injuries for Manning, who still managed to carve out a solid 15-year career, including a pair of All-Star appearances as a Clipper. Manning was still a productive pro, but the constant knee issues robbed the league of seeing his brilliance at the NBA level.

It is truly a shame that Manning had to top this list since he was a brilliant collegian who had all the talent in the world. Injuries are a cruel thing in sports and Manning’s NBA legacy was defined by knee troubles which rendered him a shadow of the player he was at Kansas.

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