Justin Manns

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By Marcus Shockley

Every summer across the country, basketball players who are in their offseason play in Pro-Am events and tournaments across the country, getting a chance to work on specific skills that they want to improve for the coming season. The Triad Pro-Am is one such event, with past seasons featuring Chris Paul, James Johnson, Rusty Larue and this year’s lottery pick Al-Farouq Aminu.

Here’s some video of a few highlight from the 2010 playoffs, specifically the final four, in games which featured former UNC star Rayshawn Terry, several current Wake Forest players including Tony Woods, JT Terrell, Travis McKie and C.J. Harris, former Wake players such as Craig Dawson and L.D. Williams, and several other college and pro players.

Impressive play from Jahron Giddings, Rashaun Davis, Justin Manns and several others. A.J. Highsmith, Reyshawn Terry and Craig Dawson were impressive outside shooters.

Also, any players who are in this video and are not mentioned by name, hit me up and I’ll make sure you get credited. You can find me on Twitter, or email me directly.

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Justin Manns is a 6’11” center, playing for Kent State and is a redshirt junior.

Justin is agile and plays his game in the paint. Slight of build, he runs the floor well and has good timing on shot blocking and put backs. He needs to add strength to keep from getting pushed out of rebounding position, but he has a lot of potential and already is a factor in paint.

Justin is not a big stiff center, his natural agility and excellent timing mean he can get to offensive alley oops and can get free for jump shots. Did not see much in the way of a drop step or other back-to-the-basket moves during this game, which could be the issue with strength and being able to establish position under the paint.

During the game he was in foul trouble late, but the fouls were somewhat questionable, as it appeared he had good position and did not bring his arm down across the player’s body as he went for shot blocks. With more aggressiveness on rebounds, improved footwork with his back to the basket and more bulk, he could be a beast in the post.

With continued work, definitely a pro player at some level. A player to keep an eye on.

Strengths

Agility
Shot-Blocker
Runs the Floor

Areas for Improvement

Strength
Aggressiveness
Traffic Rebounding

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By Marcus Shockley

Justin Manns, a 6’11” center for Kent State, dropped by the Triad Pro-Am in Winston-Salem to take in some basketball. Justin wasn’t going to play in the night’s games but since he’s from the area, having attended East Forsyth High School, he was back in his hometown, visiting his young niece and other family.

Justin expects next year’s team at Kent State to be young, after having lost six seniors. With three incoming JuCo players, he says they’ll be a much younger team all around, so it’s going to be a transition from last year. Many of the Kent State players are currently working together already and participating in a pro am event in Cleveland. Of course, that means that Justin, as a redshirt junior, will be one of the few upperclassmen and will likely need to shoulder a lot of the burden of transitioning a new set of players.

Justin says that when he looks to play in a Pro Am, it’s important to find one where you will be challenged, and he wants to try and always play against other talented players that will make him improve his own game.

Justin Manns