Jackie Manuel Head Shot

Jackie Manuel

Jackie Manuel, promoted to Associate Head Coach following American's Patriot League Championship season in 2024-25, joined head coach Duane Simpkins' staff in April of 2023.  

Manuel serves as the Eagles' defensive coordinator, specifically working with the team's post players. He also serves as the program's academic coordinator and assists with coordinating the team's community service.

In his second year, the Eagles made a historic run, winning the 2024-25 Patriot League Championship and earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014. American finished 22-13 overall and 13-5 in the Patriot League, matching the program’s all-time record for league wins in a season. The championship was clinched on the Eagles’ home floor at Bender Arena in front of a packed house, capping off a season in which AU led the Patriot League in home attendance for the first time in over a decade.

Sophomore Greg Jones was named to the Patriot League All-Defensive Team under Manuel's guidance, joining All-PL First Team honoree Matt Rogers and All-PL Third Team selection Elijah Stephens in earning postseason awards. American led the league in scoring defense at 67.7 points per game, also ranking 53rd among all teams in NCAA Division I.

In Manuel's first season as an assistant coach at American, the Eagles finished tied for second in the Patriot League, matching their third-highest regular season PL win total since 2012 with 10 wins. American had three All-Patriot League selections, and Manuel's defense finished the season ranked 66th nationally in scoring defense with a top-125 rebounding margin. Stephens was named to the Patriot League's All-Defensive Team. During the Patriot League season, the Eagles ranked second in the League allowing just 62.1 points per game, highlighted by a three-game stretch where AU allowed just 48 points per game. 

On the academic side, the team finished with a 3.19 GPA in Manuel's first season and improved it to 3.26 in his second. The Eagles earned the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award in 2024, with nine players earning Patriot League Academic Honor Roll distinctions in both 2024 and 2025, while Rogers was named to the Patriot League All-Academic Team in 2024 and graduate student Lincoln Ball earned the same honor in 2025.
 
Manuel came to Washington, D.C. after spending two seasons with UNC men’s basketball as the director of team and player development. His first season back with the men’s program saw him help the Tar Heels to another Final Four with a 29-10 record and an appearance in the national championship game.
 
Prior to joining his former team, Manuel spent one season as the director of player personnel, development and recruiting operations with the UNC women’s basketball team.  
 
He spent four years at UNC Greensboro where he began his coaching career in 2012-13 on the same staff at Duane Simpkins. He was later an assistant coach at Valparaiso in 2016-17, and coached for three seasons at UNCW.
 
Manuel, a captain on North Carolina’s national championship team in 2005, played for the Tar Heels from 2001-05. He earned All-ACC Defensive team honors as a junior and a senior, and was Carolina’s Defensive Player of the Year and Most Inspirational Player in both 2004 and 2005.
 
Manuel started 86 of 126 games at Carolina, totaling 785 points, 429 rebounds, 229 assists and 148 steals. He started all 37 games as a senior in 2004-05, when the Tar Heels finished 33-4 and beat Illinois in the NCAA title game.
 
After Carolina he went on to play four seasons in the NBA Development League and one season in Miyazaki, Japan.
 
He graduated from UNC in 2005 with a degree in African-American studies. A native of West Palm Beach, Fla., he was inducted into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
 
Manuel and his wife Ronda, also a Carolina graduate, have two daughters, Ryann and Kameron, and a son, Jordan.