One of Kansas’ best players has become an amazing leader through ‘haunting’ failure
Early in the second half, the Bishop Carroll student section started an “o-ver-rat-ed” chant aimed at Andover Central’s Xavier Bell.
Bell, who had just missed a shot, was named to the Eagle’s Top 5 team last season, but sat at 11 points as his defending champion Jaguars trailed Bishop Carroll by double-digits. Down but not out.
Carroll senior Tanner Mans sat on the bench after a good rotation on the court. He heard the chant.
He stood back up, waved at the student section (his classmates) and told them to stop. He knows how good Bell is.
Bishop Carroll coach Mike Domnick said Mans has evolved, and that is what a leader does.
Mans finished with 16 points, tied for the team-high with junior forward Alex Littlejohn. Bell finished with 20, which at one point was half of Andover Central’s scoring.
Bishop Carroll beat Andover Central 68-46 in the 2019 AVCTL/GWAL Challenge at Wichita State’s Koch Arena. It was a battle of the two most recent Class 5A champions.
Mans was a sophomore starter when Bishop Carroll won its first boys basketball title in 2017-18. He saw then-senior Luke Evans carry the Golden Eagles with a relentless leadership style.
.JPG "_MG_4670 (2).JPG")
Mans was a junior last season when the Golden Eagles made it back to the 5A state tournament.
And that’s where his story as one of the rising stars in Kansas begins — at the bottom.
Miracle needed
Bishop Carroll led Basehor-Linwood by 13 points going into the fourth quarter of its state semifinal. The winner went on to play Andover Central for the state championship, and with eight minutes left, that was almost certainly going to be Carroll.
After what Basehor-Linwood players could only explain as a “miracle,” Carroll clung to a 2-point lead with 20 seconds to go. Basehor senior Jacob Coleman dribbled the ball past the mid-court stripe with Mans defending.
He took a step to his left, twisted around Mans and hoisted a floater that went through the net to tie the score. But Carroll still had a chance to win with about 10 seconds left.
Carroll senior Carsen Pracht, who normally brought the ball up the court, inbounded the ball to Mans. He ran past halfcourt, picked up his dribble and looked to pass toward the top of the 3-point line.
He was looking for sophomore Enrique Lankford. He found Coleman instead.
The Basehor-Linwood senior stole Mans’ pass. Lankford fouled, and that was the game. Carroll’s season was over as Mans untucked his jersey, and Basehor-Linwood had completed one of the most epic comebacks in Kansas state basketball history.
“It haunts me, still to this day,” Mans said.
.JPG "_MG_4654 (2).JPG")
One more chance
Mans is back for his final season with Carroll in 2019-20. His personal redemption story started the first day back in practice.
Littlejohn is one of the top returning players in the Wichita area. Brenyn St. Vrain and Luke Larkin, similar to Mans, earned valuable minutes during Carroll’s title season two years ago.
Carroll has a lot of solid players this season, but Littlejohn said there is no question who runs the show.
“Right off the bat,” Littlejohn said, “as soon as summer started, he was back in the gym. He was hyping everyone up. He was controlling practice. He was talking to people. He was leading right off the bat.”
Domnick said Mans’ story at Carroll has taken three distinct turns in three years. As a sophomore, he found his role and filled it as a 3-point specialist. He let the leaders lead, and he followed.
As a junior, he tried to do too much, Domnick said. “I took a break after that game. I took a month off,” Mans said. “It really humbled me and made me hungry.”
“It was a struggle for him at times,” Domnick said. “He was always trying to help the team, but he was going about it sometimes the wrong way.”
So far as a senior, Mans seems to have gathered everything he has seen in his leaders — Evans, the charismatic; and Pracht, the orchestrator — and wound them into one. He said they showed the mold for the player he wants to be.
After the game, Carroll broke the huddle on Mans’ mark. During the game, the Eagles fed off his energy. And in practice, he is the shot-caller, even if that means he isn’t the one taking the shots.
“This kid has got Luke Evans-status leadership,” Domnick said. “He knows he’s going to get his school paid for at the next level. He’s not worried about the stats. He’s worried about getting this team where we need to get.”
Mans holds scholarship offers from Newman, Washburn and Fort Hays State, but before he takes the next step, he is focused on rewriting his Carroll legacy.
.JPG "_MG_4632 (2).JPG")
Mans said he has watched the tape from the Basehor-Linwood semifinal at least 20 times. Domnick said that game ate at him for months before he gave just watching the film a chance in the summer. He said not calling a timeout when Mans stepped across halfcourt still follows him.
The Eagles felt as if they were the ones who belonged in the title game. A day later, Andover Central beat Basehor-Linwood by 11 points in a game that never felt that close.
So when this season started, Mans said he had his eyes on one team in the Wichita area: the champions.
“I think we’re all matured,” Littlejohn said. “Half these kids were playing as freshmen, sophomores. We’re all great athletes. We can all make plays at any given time. No one has to score 20 a game.”
Carroll got its shot Friday night and didn’t miss. Andover Central has had just a handful of practices, with its football team finishing its season only two weeks ago.
On the Carroll side, the Eagles’ football season ended five weeks ago, and only two of the basketball team’s real contributors were on that football team.
But Mans, especially, showed Friday night that the 2019-20 season is about earning another title. Throughout his high school career, “T-legs” has been Mans’ nickname. With his shorts rolled up and skinny legs underneath, Man had a lanky build.
Domnick said his team leader put on 20 pounds in the offseason. He looks like a completely different player this year.
Renewed body, renewed mind. Mans said taking a month away from basketball was exactly what he needed.
“Mistakes make us who we are,” Mans said. “It brought me down. Now it brings me up.”
This story was originally published December 14, 2019 at 5:00 AM.