By Tyce Dishman
From three generations of successful athletes there comes a certain expectation to perform well. Senior Jonny Manor is a two-sport varsity athlete who is continuing his family’s journey.
Jonny was the starting point guard in basketball and the starting wide receiver in football. His family has had success on the court and on the field.
His grandfather Bill Lynch was a college football coach for 35 years. He was the head football coach at Indiana University for three years and at Ball State University for seven years.
Jonny also has three uncles with coaching experience. Billy, Joey and Kevin Lynch all have coached football at the NCAA Division 1 level.
His dad Lucas Manor played for the 1996-97 Delta basketball team that finished runner- up in the final single-class IHSAA state finals.
“Just ’cause they know the “M” (Manor) and they expect more,” Jonny said, “but I take that responsibility and I always go by the saying that pressure is a privilege.”
In mid-March, the Eagles faced Fort Wayne Concordia in the regional championship and defeated them 39-37.
“Jonny’s our motor,” basketball head coach Mark Detweiler said. “Having a guy that just can be a pest, he’s kind of that guy who’s irritating for everybody. Concordia’s coach didn’t talk about anybody else on our roster before the game except for him. And he just said, man, every team needs a point guard like that.”
In the sectional championship game, the point guard that everyone needed came to life. Jonny was tested during that game because Yorktown chose to defend other players and dared Jonny to shoot the ball.
Prior to the championship game Jonny took only two shots in the tournament. His season stats were 39 of 89 from the field, which equals just three shot attempts per game. He averaged 4 points per game and had 103 total assists and 39 total steals this season.
During the sectional championship game Jonny had 15 points, which was a new career high for him.
All of that success in the sectional championship game came with a lot of preparation. Yorktown had beaten Delta in the county tournament by not guarding Jonny tightly, and he only took a couple of shots.
But for the rematch, Jonny spent extra hours in the gym working on his shot while waiting to play Yorktown again.
“In his mind he kind of knew if we go down it’s not going to be because of me, they’re going to have to guard me,” Detweiler said. “And he did that — he went out and led us that night against Yorktown two weeks ago.”
As a young player Jonny was undersized but nevertheless he didn’t let that stop him. Weighing 97 pounds his freshman year, he was at an extreme disadvantage when it came to matching up against other players on defense. So it was not a surprise when he played freshman basketball.
In Jonny’s sophomore year he was 5-foot-4 and 105 pounds. Still, he played in 22 of the 24 varsity games that season.
As a junior, he was 5-7 and 130 pounds. Now in Jonny’s senior year he is 5-9 and 155. He was a full-time starter at point guard both years.
“When he was little he would come in with his knees scraped up and bleeding and even then he didn’t let that stop him.” Lucas said.
Jonny’s three uncles have coached at several universities. The youngest is Kevin and he is the assistant head coach and the quarterbacks coach at Ball State currently. Then the next oldest is Joey and he was the offensive coordinator at Vanderbilt and is now senior offensive analyst at Texas A&M, but has worked at other places as well. Then the oldest is Billy and he has worked at Rice and IU, but is now at Delta as a volunteer assistant coach for football and basketball.
With Billy on the sidelines, Jonny has had someone he can relate to and talk to if he needs advice on anything.
Jonny knows he can trust the information not only because he is family but because Billy was on the same 1996-97 team as Jonny’s dad. Billy was the starting point guard like Jonny.
But Lucas has some coaching experience with Jonny as well. Lucas remembers a specific moment from Jonny’s early years that changed the way Jonny approaches sports.
When Jonny was in second grade he was playing with third graders and his dad was the coach. All week his dad asked if he wanted to go out and practice and Jonny said no.
The team was up by 30 in that Saturday’s game and Lucas never put Jonny in the game for a second. At the end of the game Lucas asked his young son, “Do you like sitting the bench?”
The next day Jonny was up at 6 a.m. shooting.
“I never had to tell him to practice again,” his father said.
Through sports Jonny has learned valuable lessons such as being a good teammate.
“If you keep a positive energy and don’t be negative, it really helps the team more than people think and expect.” Jonny said. “That’s something I’ve learned and something I could take on for the rest of my life.”
Jonny wants to coach high school or college basketball in his future. But, as always, Jonny is trying to go bigger and do better things. He is searching for an NCAA Division 1 basketball program that is willing to give him an opportunity to play as a “walk-on” or to be a student coach. Walk-ons are non-scholarship players who practice with the team and occasionally get to play in games.
“My three dream schools would be Ball State, Butler and Purdue,” Jonny said. “They’re all close to home.”
