SYDNEY MANNING, DEER CREEK
Sydney Manning had her family convinced early she would never be a high scorer at the high school level.
Throughout little league and middle school Manning refused to shoot the ball. She’d rather find the open teammate yet to score in the game for an open look.
“It wasn’t my first thought,” Manning said about scoring.
After a quietly dominant and efficient junior season, Manning isn’t known as an elite scorer but instead an all-round force for Deer Creek.
It’s why the Antlers made the Class 6A state championship game in just their second season in the state’s highest classification. It’s also why she’s on The Oklahoman’s Super 5 team.
Manning averaged 16.9 points as she shot nearly 59 percent from field-goal range and 46 percent from 3-point range.
“She wants to get her whole team involved,”said Deer Creek coach Totsy Manning, who is Sydney’s mom. “I grew up playing that way as well and I don’t want her to be a selfish player and take every shot, because we’re never going to win doing that.”
Sydney Manning never took more than 15 shots in a game this season, Totsy said.
That’s still more than she shot when younger.
Totsy said she set a goal for Sydney to shoot at least 10 shots per game in little league. More times than not, she missed that goal. In middle school she bragged more about helping a teammate score than her own baskets.
She still does that. Only this time she’s the humble leader of a perennial state contender with offers from Oral Roberts, Tulsa, Wichita State among others.
“There’s other ways that you can contribute more than just scoring,” Manning said. “I just like to keep to myself and know that I just take pride in what I do.”
INFO
Height: 5-9
Position: Guard
Class: Junior
The story: An incredibly efficient scorer, Manning averaged 16.9 points while leading the Antlers to a Class 6A state runner-up finish. She also averaged 4.9 rebounds and led her team in nearly every statistical category. She has offers from Oral Roberts, Tulsa, Wichita State, TexasArlington and Missouri State.