PSAC Feature Friday: Gary Manchel
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. --- The third of our Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Feature Friday stories comes from Mercyhurst University. We take a look inside story of men’s basketball head coach Gary Manchel on earning his 300th win.
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Heading into Mercyhurst’s men’s basketball game against Roberts Wesleyan College, head coach Gary Manchel was not aware that the game could be a monumental moment in his career. The day before the game someone had let him know, as well as his players, that if the Lakers beat the RedHawks, it would be his 300th victory.
“I don't really focus on those kinds of things. I mean, the way I coach, the way we play, we really focused on just putting the team first and not really cared about accolades or milestones,” Manchel said. “We only accomplished it because of the assistant coaches that I've had and the players I've had. Without those two things; and then also I had the administrators. Brad Davis has been phenomenal the two or three years that he's been here and I've worked on here, he's actually been very instrumental as far as how successful we've been over the last three years.”
The Lakers beat the RedHawks 88-56 and improved to 4-0 on the season. That win meant Manchel became just the 39th coach in NCAA Division II men’s basketball history to win 300 games at their current institution.
Gary Manchel’s career began as a graduate assistant for Slippery Rock’s men’s basketball team. Along the way to working as head coach for Mercyhurst, he spent time as an assistant for Yale University and Ohio University, and as a head coach for University of Massachusetts- Lowell.
At UMass-Lowell, it was Manchel’s first head coaching gig. He said the experience taught him a lot about figuring out a plan for each team. As head coach of the River Hawks men’s basketball team, he learned how to recruit players and “what level of talent you need to get to get to be successful.”
“Being a head coach for the very first time, figuring out what worked and what doesn't work,” Manchel said. “That's where I kind of like tweaked the way we played defensively with the matchup. I kind of reinvented it from my days at Yale throughout the nine years at Lowell. And I brought that over with me to Mercyhurst.”
In November, the PSAC canceled winter sports, but allowed schools compete in non-conference play if permitted by their institutions. Mercyhurst men’s basketball has currently played six games, while a few have been canceled or postponed because of Covid-19 protocols.
The players and coaches have continued to prepare for the season as the team can pick up games as soon as they are available. Though Manchel said it has been “a little up and down,” the Lakers are trying to take it one game at a time.
Looking ahead Manchel said the team’s immediate goal is to “be the best team we can be” and to play in at least 11 games. The long-term goal for the season play in the NCAA Division II March Madness tournament.
“Our guys have done everything we've asked and they've done a great job being flexible, coming to work every single day,” Manchel said. “Just kind of roll with the punches. I couldn't ask for anything more from our guys.”
ABOUT THE PSAC
Headquartered in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference comprised of 18 institutions in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The member institutions are Bloomsburg University, California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University, East Stroudsburg University, Edinboro University, Gannon University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown University, Lock Haven University, Mansfield University, Mercyhurst University, Millersville University, The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Seton Hill University, Shepherd University, Shippensburg University, Slippery Rock University and West Chester University.