Maryland men’s basketball promotes Greg Manning Jr. to assistant coach

Maryland men’s basketball announced Tuesday that Greg Manning Jr. was promoted from director of basketball operations to assistant coach.

“Greg has done a tremendous job for our program and is very deserving of this role,” head coach Kevin Willard said in a release. “He has the respect of our players and is well-known throughout the Maryland community and beyond.”

Manning Jr.’s promotion comes in the wake of assistant coaches Tony Skinn and Grant Billmeier both leaving for head coaching gigs, with Skinn leaving for George Mason and Billmeier off to NJIT. Willard previously hired former DeMatha Catholic High School head coach and Virginia Tech assistant Mike Jones to an assistant coaching role to fill Skinn’s vacancy and has promoted Manning Jr. to round out the staff.

Manning Jr. has been with Maryland for five years. He became the program’s director of basketball operations in April 2021 after serving as the team’s video coordinator from 2018-21. Before that, he was an assistant coach at Siena from 2013-18 under former Maryland assistant Jimmy Patsos, who he played for at Loyola (Md.) from 2004-08.

His father, Greg Manning Sr., played at Maryland for four seasons under Lefty Driesell from 1977-81.

This is not the first time Manning Jr. will step into an assistant coaching role at Maryland. He was elevated to the position on an interim basis during the 2021-22 season after then-head coach Mark Turgeon’s departure saw Danny Manning became the team’s interim head coach.

Charlie Butler will take Manning Jr.’s former role, being promoted from coordinator of basketball operations. Additionally, assistant coach David Cox, the only returning assistant from last year’s staff, will now serve as associate head coach.

Butler is a long-time staffer of Willard’s, having worked as Seton Hall’s coordinator of basketball operations for six years before coming to Maryland to take the same role last offseason. Before that, he was Seton Hall’s video coordinator for two years after being a team manager for four.

Cox has twice before been an associate head coach in his career, first at Rutgers from 2010-14 and then at Rhode Island from 2014-18. Before coming to Maryland last offseason, he was the head coach at Rhode Island for four years.