Brady Manek has struggled on defense at times this year, but he stepped up on Saturday to defend Duke’s top scorer, Paolo Banchero, for much of the National Semifinal.
“It was hard,” Manek said. “Yesterday was a challenge for sure. He’s a great player. He does a lot of things. For me to have to guard him on defense, just play the best I could on defense, and then I had to help the team on offense. It’s tiring, but it’s the end of the year. I don’t think there’s an excuse for being tired anymore.
Manek scored 14 points against Duke. His performance at both ends of the court helped lead North Carolina into the National Championship Game against Kansas, far exceeding his expectations when he decided to transfer to UNC for his final college season.
“I set two goals for myself,” he recalled. “One was to not be an eight-nine seed.”
Manek went to the tournament twice with Oklahoma, once as a nine-seed in 2019 and once as an eight in 2021. The Sooners lost to a one-seed in their second game both times—Virginia in 19 and Gonzaga last year.
Unfortunately for him, when the brackets were unveiled, UNC was an eight seed.
“That didn’t work out,” he said.
His other goal made up for it, though.
“My second goal was to make it to Sweet 16,” he said. “That one has gone way beyond. Playing in the National Championship Game—that nine-seed thing doesn’t matter anymore.”
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