Jackie Manuel is in his first season as an assistant coach on UNCG coach Wes Miller's staff.

Manuel joins the UNCG staff after a one-year stint as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at his alma mater, North Carolina. There, he prepared and assisted with the execution of the strength training workout plan for the men’s basketball team while learning the ropes of coaching from Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams.

“It’s a great honor, and I’m very thankful for Wes to think of me that highly,” Manuel said. “I’m very appreciative and just blessed. It brings back old memories. It doesn’t happen often, whether it’s playing, coaching, whatever it is, that you get to be with a teammate again. It’s going to be good. We know each other very well, so the transition should be real easy.”

In Manuel’s one year on staff at UNC, the Tar Heels went 32-6 overall, won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight. North Carolina began the 2011-12 campaign ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Manuel wrapped up a five-year professional playing career in 2011. He spent the 2010-11 season playing for the Miyazaki Shining Suns in Miyazaki, Japan, averaging 18 points, six rebounds and three assists per game. Prior to that, he spent four seasons in the NBA Development League, playing for the Erie Bayhawks (the minor league affiliate of the New York Knicks), the Iowa Energy (Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Hornets and Washington Wizards) and the Los Angeles D-Fenders (Los Angeles Lakers).

The West Palm Beach, Fla., native was a two-time All-ACC Defensive Team member as a player for the Tar Heels, taking the honor in 2003-04 and 2004-05. He was a tri-captain for North Carolina’s national championship squad in 2005, when he and Miller were teammates.

“Jackie Manuel brings a wealth of collegiate and professional playing experience to our program,” Miller said upon hiring Manuel. “He is positive and energetic and I am confident he will relate extremely well to our players and prospects. As one of his teammates in college, I know firsthand that Jackie Manuel is hard-working, team-orientated and a fiercely competitive winner. As he makes this transition to coaching, I expect him to impact our program immediately in the same way he has impacted all of the teams he played on. There is no doubt in my mind that he will do that here. We welcome Jackie, his wife, Rhonda, and his daughter, Ryan, to our basketball family.”