Kansas University assistant coach Danny Manning starred on the 1987-88 Jayhawks, who won the national championship, 83-79 against Oklahoma.

Danny Manning, who led Kansas University’s basketball team to the 1988 NCAA title, believes the 2007-08 Jayhawks have what it takes to cut down the nets April 7 in San Antonio.

“Absolutely,” KU assistant coach Manning said Wednesday.

“But we are one of quite a few (teams) who could say the same thing.”

Manning – his 1987-88 teammates and coaches will gather in Lawrence for a 20-year national championship reunion a week from Friday (they’ll be recognized at the Feb. 16 KU-Colorado game) – was willing to compare the two ultra-talented squads.

Recognizing it’s a different era, Manning gives the edge to KU’s current team, which is off to a 22-1 start, compared to the title team, which opened 15-8 after 23 contests.

“Our championship team is nowhere near the team we have now at Kansas,” Manning said. “We didn’t have the same amount of depth, and the talent level was a lot different. That’s not a knock on our (’88) team. It’s just that this team is a lot of horses pulling the carriage.

“We did too, but we did it in different ways,” added Manning, who played next to Kevin Pritchard, Milt Newton, Chris Piper and Jeff Gueldner to start the 83-79 national title victory over Oklahoma on April 4, 1988, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.

“We were more a ball-control type team. We wanted to dictate the tempo, run when there was an opportunity to get an easy bucket. Other than that, we were a good executing team in the halfcourt. I think we (this year) are those things, as well. We couldn’t score points in a flurry like this team does.”

A fierce competitor who averaged 24.8 points and 9.0 rebounds his senior season – he scored 31 points with 18 rebounds in the championship game – Manning grew evasive when asked which team would win in a mythical clash between the ’07-08 and ’87-88 Jayhawks.

“I don’t know. Does it matter?” Manning said.

Only in fantasyland.

Back to reality … Manning, in a rare interview concerning KU’s run to the ’88 crown, admitted things looked grim when Larry Brown’s Jayhawks opened the season 12-8 after 20 games.

“We started out the season with a high expectation level,” Manning said. “We were 12-8, struggling to find our identity. You are 12-8, you hear rumors of NIT, hopefully a home game. At that point you’ve got to figure out a way to win games.

“We were able to find it (identity) with the guidance of coach Brown, and everything else is history.”

Was there serious doubt the eventual champs would even make the NCAAs?

“Not in the players’ minds. Every game we took the floor we felt we were going to win,” Manning said.

KU took a 17-10 record to Missouri as late as Feb. 27, 1988. The Jayhawks nudged the Tigers, 82-77, downed Colorado and Oklahoma State to close the regular season, then went 1-1 in the Big Eight Tournament.

“I remember the last six games. Anything before that I struggle remembering,” Manning said.

Granted a No. 6 seed, the Jayhawks went 6-0 in the NCAAs, beating, in order, Xavier, Murray State, Vanderbilt, Kansas State, Duke and OU en route to the school’s first title since 1952.

“The bottom line is coach Brown devised a game plan and a scheme he thought would be effective. We bought into it, and it worked,” Manning said.

“To me, yes, coach Brown is the best (Xs and Os coach he played for),” Manning added. “I played for some great ones. I think he’s the best in my eyes.”

Legend says the Jayhawks ignored Brown’s pre-game instructions and – on their own – decided to run with Oklahoma in the title game.

Tied 50-50 at halftime in what many agreed was the best opening half in NCAA title-game history, KU’s players finally listened to Brown and, playing excellent half-court basketball, managed to outlast Billy Tubbs’ OU team that had beaten KU twice previously.

“We wanted to go out, play hard and have fun,” Manning said of the players’ mindset. “The game became a fast-paced game, which Oklahoma liked, which was not best suited for the personnel we had on our team. It was fun, and it was close.”

Nonstarters who played in the title game included Scooter Barry, Clint Normore, Keith Harris, Lincoln Minor and Mike Maddox, names that will live forever in KU lore.

“I think when you go into your athletic career in college, high school, the goal is always to win the championship,” Manning said. “No matter the level, there is only one team that wins the last game. We were very fortunate to be one of those teams, but that is always the goal every season.”

Manning said he’s not surprised tradition-rich KU has not won a title since ’88.

“There’s a lot of parity in college athletics. A lot of things have to go your way – the right bounce at the right time, being a little lucky, being injury free, not catching a team playing on a different level than they normally play on,” Manning said. “We’ve had some great teams throughout the years that made it to Final Four and had some great runs. I’m definitely proud of the tradition and history we have at the University of Kansas.”

KU coach Bill Self says he’s proud to have had 15-year NBA veteran Manning on his staff during his five years at KU.

“He’s great working with the guys. He sees things,” Self said. “He’s been a positive influence ever since he’s been here. Our bigs have gotten better, a large part due to him, a large part due to experience. Danny is a huge, huge asset to have on the staff.”

Manning hasn’t ruled out becoming a head coach someday, either on the college or NBA level.

“I don’t know. I certainly enjoy what I am doing now,” he said. “I love being back in Lawrence and being in the Jayhawk nation. But is this position my end-all? I don’t believe so.”

He definitely is the type of person who looks ahead … meaning he doesn’t spend much time reminiscing about ’88, not with fans, certainly not with the media.

“I don’t go out too much. I go to my kids’ games when I can when I’m here (not recruiting). If I’m not at their games, I’m at home. The friends we have … the conversation has been brought up, passed on, and it’s gone. I might see a former classmate, someone part of Jayhawk nation might bring it up. My everyday life … my memories are fond enough when I walk down the hallway (toward his office) and see the picture of us celebrating after the championship game.”