Kansas great and Colorado assistant coach Danny Manning, center, catches up with Kansas assistant coach Norm Roberts prior to tipoff on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas basketball luminary Danny Manning returned to Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday night as a member of the road team.

Manning, KU’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder and the leader of the 1988 title team known as “Danny and the Miracles,” is in his first season as an assistant coach at Colorado under fellow former Jayhawk Tad Boyle.

“He’s obviously as influential a player as this place has ever known, and probably done as much for this athletic department and program as anybody ever has,” KU coach Bill Self said on Monday. “So yeah, we’re proud of everything he accomplished and what he continues to do and how he represents us everywhere he goes, even though he’s not here right now.”

Self, who had Manning on his staff in various capacities as an assistant from 2003 to 2012, said he had the chance to spend time with Manning at Self’s son Tyler’s wedding over the summer.

In the years since leaving the KU staff, Manning served as a head coach at Tulsa and Wake Forest, assistant and interim coach at Maryland and assistant at Louisville before joining Boyle’s group in May.

“I’ve been around and fortunate enough to be in a lot of different gyms as a player and as a coach, and Allen Fieldhouse is still my favorite gym,” Manning said, per the Boulder Daily Camera. “Just because of the history, the tradition, the understanding of the game from the fans that are inside the Fieldhouse. It’s a special place.”

He and Boyle each received ovations from the crowd after the announcement of Colorado’s starting lineup.

Health updates

Freshman wing Rakease Passmore dressed to play on Tuesday night, while redshirt junior Zach Clemence was again in street clothes.

Both players have been on the periphery of the rotation when healthy, but still occasionally called on by Self in moments of need. However, Passmore had missed three straight games, two after getting concussed in practice on Jan. 30 and one due to a case of the flu; Self had previously said on Monday his availability for Tuesday was uncertain.

Clemence, meanwhile, has not played since KU hosted N.C. State due to a groin injury suffered on Dec. 19, days before the Jayhawks’ game against Brown.

Clemence, who redshirted last season when he decided to come back to Lawrence after initially entering the transfer portal, could also be eligible for a medical redshirt if he does not end up participating in more than 30% of KU’s games this season.

New uniform

KU debuted a fresh uniform design on Tuesday night for Black History Month. It featured a blue jersey and blue shorts with crimson and yellow quilted patterns on each side, starting below the shoulders.

KU Athletics previously released a video on social media on Jan. 31 explaining that the design was inspired by Lawrence’s abolitionist history and the role that quilts are believed to have played in providing information to enslaved people on the Underground Railroad.

The KU women’s team will wear the same uniform for its game against Iowa State on Saturday evening.

The uniform is the latest in a series of Black History Month jerseys the Jayhawks have worn in recent years, including the flower-patterned Honoring Black Excellence jersey that originated in 2022.

Historic honors

Also for Black History Month, in the sixth installment of its Marian E. Washington Trailblazer Series, KU honored former men’s basketball player Darnell Valentine and rower Erika Oliver at halftime on Tuesday.

The Wichita native Valentine, whose jersey is retired, was a four-time all-conference selection and one of the top players of the Ted Owens era. Valentine was not present but was represented by teammate David Magley. KU wore warmup jerseys prior to the game with Valentine’s name and No. 14 on the back.

Oliver, who is believed to be the first African American rower in KU rowing history, helped get the program established as a Division I sport in the 1990s. An Overland Park native, she lives in Boston and returned to KU for the first time in 30 years, according to a press release.

Washington, the legendary KU women’s basketball coach and namesake of the series, was in attendance as well.