2022-2023 NBL Depth Charts
February 7, 2023
Brady Manek
- Nationality: USA
- Date of Birth: 4/09/98
- Place of Birth: Edmond, Oklahoma (USA)
- Position: FRD
- Height (CM): 206
- Weight (KG): 105
- Junior Assoc: None
- College: Oklahoma (2017–2021) / North Carolina (2021–2022)
- NBL DEBUT: 17/09/22
- AGE AT DEBUT: 24
- LAST NBL GAME: 12/02/23
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 24
- NBL History: Perth 2023
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Brady Manek was born in Edmond, Oklahoma (USA) and grew up playing basketball with friend and college teammate Trae Young. His family moved to Harrah, Oklahoma where he attended Harrah High School. Whilst there he was named Little All-City Player of the Year by The Oklahoman 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 by several services, he committed to play college basketball for Oklahoma after his sophomore season of high school.
FAMILY: Manek’s older brother, Kellen, was his basketball teammate at Harrah High School for three years and played for Oral Roberts and Southeastern Oklahoma State.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Brady Manek made his NBL debut with the Perth Wildcats at 24 years of age. He scored four points in his first game.
After missing the playoffs for the first time in 35 years under Canadian coach, Scott Morrison announced he was leaving after just one season so he could return home for family reasons. In his place, the Wildcat’s appointed former Townsville Crocodiles star John Rillie as the club’s new head coach on a three-year deal.
Perth retained the majority of its roster, with only Kevin White (to Illawarra) and Matt Hodgson (to Taiwan) not returning. Perth re-signed Bryce Cotton (3 Year Deal), Todd Blanchfield (3 Year Deal) and Jesse Wagstaff (1 Year Deal) and elevated backup guard Kyle Zunic from development player to the full roster. Corey Webster, who the Wildcats had signed to a deal in 2017 only to see him leave before the season started, signed as a free agent. To round out the roster, imports TaShawn Thomas (France) and Manek (North Carolina) were added for some additional scoring punch.
Rillie’s squad began the season nicely, notching up three wins in a row and looking like the Wildcat’s of old as they sat on top of the NBL ladder. This was then met with a five game losing streak where during that time Manek was under a considerable pressue given he’d scored a combined 25 points from his last four games and speculation was mounting that Perth would replace him with a different import. On the back of all that pressure, Manek had a breakout game to bring home a win against Adelaide, coming off the bench to nail six three-pointers and hitting eight of his 10 field goal attempts – including six of eight threes.
Brady Manek put on a show last night at Adelaide Entertainment Centre. ????
Relive all his best bits from the win! pic.twitter.com/N460Y9ua71
— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) November 6, 2022
Manek backed up that performance with 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in a 103-96 win over South East Melbourne but would continue to be inconsistent throughout the season. During December he went throguh a scoring patch of 2 points (vs Adelaide), 3 points (vs Melbourne), 11 points (vs Cairns) before going scoreless in 19 minutes against Brisbane.
With six games remaining in the regular season Perth added Tai Webster to their roster after he was released from his team in Turkey, reuniting him with his brother Corey. Following the signing of Webster, Corey Shervill was released from the Wildcat’s 11-man roster.
The team’s final three games saw them lose to Tasmania (102–94) after allowing the JackJumpers to outscore them 27-15 across the final 10 minutes. A crucial loss to Cairns Taipans (84-71) set up a nail-biting last round where another Perth loss would see United finish sixth and the Wildcat’s eliminated from Finals or a Perth win allowing them to advance to the postseason.
While the Kings were able to lock down Cotton (7 points), Perth got big games out of Corey Webster (26 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists), Luke Travers (22 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists) and Brady Manek (21 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals) to deliver a upset victory (96-84) against the league leading Kings.
The win saw Perth (15-13) claim sixth place on the ladder and advance into the league’s inaugural play-in tournament. There, they would face South East Melbourne in a game where they trailed the entire game until the fourth quarter. During the final term, the Wildcat’s outscored the Phoenix (41-23) and moved on the second round of the play-in tournament, on the back of a seven-point win (106-99). Perth then met Cairns in a game where the winner would advance to the semi finals as the fourth seed.
Although Cairns entered the game without their leading scorer and rebounder Keanu Pinder, a history making effort from DJ Hogg (32 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists) delivered the end to the Wildcats’ season. Hogg would record the most points ever by a Taipan in the playoffs, defeating the Wildcats (78-91) in the process.
Manek played in 30 games for the Wildcats and averaged 13.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists for the season.
Brady Manek played one season in the NBL. He averaged 13.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 30 NBL games.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 24 | Perth | 15-13 (6) | 30 | 835.6 | 394 | 160 | 50 | 44 | 116 | 21 | 15 | 25 | 54 | 141 | 304 | 46% | 77 | 189 | 40.7% | 35 | 44 | 80% | 61% | 59% | 25 | Totals | 30 | 836 | 394 | 160 | 50 | 44 | 116 | 21 | 15 | 25 | 54 | 141 | 304 | 46.4% | 77 | 189 | 40.7% | 35 | 44 | 79.5% | 61% | 59% | 25 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 24 | Perth | 15-13 (6) | 30 | 27.9 | 13.1 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 4.7 | 10.1 | 46% | 2.6 | 6.3 | 40.7% | 1.2 | 1.5 | 80% | 61% | 59% | 25 | Total | 30 | 27.9 | 13.1 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 4.7 | 10.1 | 46.4% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 40.7% | 2.6 | 6.3 | 79.5% | 61% | 59% | 25 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 25 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
|---|
NBA EXPERIENCE
After going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft, Manek joined the Charlotte Hornets for the 2022 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, averaging seven points and four rebounds per game, in just over 14 minutes of action.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Turkey - Tofas Bursa (2023) | Lithuania - Zalgiris Kaunas (2023-2024)
After spending his first season as a pro with the Perth Wildcats, he went on sign a deal to play in Turkey with Tofas Bursa, where he averaged 15.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in the teams last eleven games.
On July 21, 2023, Manek signed a two-year (1+1) deal with Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague.
COLLEGE
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. Manek recorded 59 three-pointers, the fourth-most by a freshman in school history. In his sophomore season, he averaged 12.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and was a All-Big 12 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 a 83–63 win over TCU. Manek scored 30 points on February 1, in a 82–69 victory over Oklahoma State.
As a junior, he averaged 14.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game, earning Third Team All-Big 12 honours. In his senior season, Manek averaged 10.8 points and five rebounds per game. Following the season, he transferred to North Carolina.
After four impressive years of college basketball at Oklahoma, Manek transferred to North Carolina and played a essential role in UNC’s run to the 2022 NCAA championship game. He 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 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 a 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. He scored 20 points in the Tar Heels' 94–81 victory in the regular-season finale against Duke. 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.
AWARDS
-King Mindaugas Cup winner (2024)
- Riley Wallace Award (2022)
-
Third-team All-Big 12 (2020)
Related
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