Basketball
Favorite athletes: Steph Curry & Ja Morant
Favorite team: Warriors & Grizzlies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Watching my teammate last year score his 1000th point
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: It actually happened this year - we were inbounding the ball, and I walked away from it & got a turnover.
Music on playlist: Ot7 Quanny
Future plans: play collegiate basketball
Words to live by: “I never told you it would be easy, I told you it would be worth it.”
One goal before turning 30: Have a lot of money saved up & own property
One thing people don't know about me: I’m naturally left handed, I just shoot with my right.
By GORDON GLANTZ
Ask Abington senior Jake Manigault if he ever played any sport other than basketball, and he pretty much scoffs at the concept.
“Nah, it was always just all basketball,” he said. “I started playing basketball when I was 5, but I’ve always been around it.”
In fact, the sport is pretty much woven into the DNA of the combo guard, who plays 12 months a year (summer leagues, AAU and just being a gym rat).
It’s deep in the roots of his family tree.
“My older brothers, they always played basketball, so I have just always been around it,” he said. “I’m the youngest in my family.
“Actually, my oldest cousin is in the NBA. He plays for the Knicks.”
The NBA? The Knicks? Yep!
That would be none other than Villanova product Mikal Bridges, who is a first cousin.
“I’m just trying my best to follow in his footsteps,” said Manigault, whose favorite players are actually Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors) since he was little and now Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzlies).
He added: “Since I was little kid, I was always a Warriors’ fan. Steph Curry is the reason why I started watching and started playing basketball. More recently, Ja Morant has kind of been my guy, but Curry is the reason why I started.”
With a 24/7 hoops mentality, Manigault has been someone that coach Dan Marsh, in his second year at the helm after being the girls’ coach, has leaned on.
“He runs the point for me a lot – not exclusively, but a lot,” said Marsh. “He handles the ball a lot in pressure situations.
“Jake does whatever the team needs him to do. If we need him to score, he’ll score. If we need him to play defense, he’ll play defense. If we need him to do both, he will do both. If we told Jake, ‘We need you to run through this wall to win this game,’ he will do it without any hesitation.’”
Emerging Leader
When the 2024-25 season began, Manigault was one of only two experienced players on the Ghosts’ roster, and he really had no starting experience.
This year’s team, as a whole, lost a few winnable games but is hitting its stride at the right time.
“For sure,” said Manigault. “The season is going alright. I thought we would have a better record at the end of the regular season, but we dropped some really easy games. We were just inexperienced. I think that’s just all it was. In the playoffs, I think we can make a run at this thing.”
The team’s record stands at 14-8 through 22 games, which is good for a power ranking of No. 12 in the district.
While there are some quality wins, like a recent one over PW, there have been losses that can be chalked up to inexperience.
“We lost a couple of games that, with more experience, we probably wouldn’t have,” said Marsh. “We should be more of a 17-win team, in my estimation, but we are kind of where we should be, I think.
“We are just going to keeping working hard and make a run in districts.”
Manigault, for his part, has stood out as a two-way player in Marsh’s four-guard offense and has also grown into a leader as a team captain.
“I’ve been on varsity since my sophomore year, but this is my first year actually getting valuable minutes,” said Manigault. “I’m really contributing. I’m scoring, and being a leader and playing defense.”
Being a leader meant taking the reins right after last season ended.
“I take being a leader and a captain very seriously,” said Manigault. “When we lost last year in February, we took two weeks off and then we got right back into it in March.
“We have been going at it since then, (I’m) just trying to keep their heads up and push them to be the best they can be and push them to their limits. I have been doing a pretty good job of that, I think.”
Marsh absolutely agrees with that assessment.
“Jake is a quiet leader,” said the coach. “He leads by example. He is a very, very hard worker. He is a gym rat, and all he wants to do is win.
“While he is really starting to come into his own as a vocal leader, he is really a quiet killer. He’ll hit a big shot. If we need a big stop, we can put Jake on one of their better players. He is a two-way player.”
Manigault says he is has learned to be in the moment and sense when to be vocal and when not to be.
“I can be really loud at times but, as coach Marsh like to say, I can be really quiet,” he explained. “I lead by example by just going 100 percent in any drill that we are doing.”
Decision Looming
A solid citizen off the court, the 6-0 Manigault is currently weighing his college options.
There are PSAC schools in the hunt for his services, as well as some at the Division III level.
“It’s going pretty well right now,” said Manigault of the recruiting process, adding that Bowie State is also in the picture. “My AD (Charles Grasty) and I were just on the phone with West Chester a couple of days ago, and we are going to send some film over to them.”
Because he will need to transform into being a pure point guard, he could get some polishing at the junior college level.
“He has some offers on the table,” said Marsh. “He is going to help somebody. We just don’t know where he is going to end up yet.
“Jake is still learning how to do (be a pure point guard). This is only my second year with the boys’ program. It’s my second year with Jake, and we are working with him on it, but he is going to be a valuable asset for whoever he ends up with. That’s just because of his work ethic and him being a multiple threat. He can do multiple things.”
In Manigault’s bag of tricks is the ability to be able to throw off opponents with some unique skills.
For example, the natural southpaw shoots the ball right-handed.
“It helps me a lot,” he explained. “On the court, I forced them to my left. Then, they don’t know that I prefer going to my left.”
Multiple Choices
Manigault -- thanking his friends, teammates, family and coaches (Marsh and Grasty before him) -- is maintaining a positive outlook.
“Hopefully, it will all work out,” said Manigault, who has battled nagging injuries earlier in his career but not many this season. “If not, it is what it is. There will be some other options.”
Manigault has given himself those options with his work in the classroom.
“I’m a student-athlete,” he said. “Grades comes first, because you can’t go anywhere without the grades.”
Marsh, a teacher at Abington, is well aware of what he contributes to the overall culture of the Abington campus.
“Jake is an all-business kind of a guy,” said Marsh. “He comes to school to do his school work. When he comes to do basketball, he plays basketball.
“There is no real gray area with Jake. Whatever he is doing, that is what he is focused on. You see him in the hallways, he will go to class and he will do his thing.”
Marsh went on to add that Manigault is a product of a strong family that runs deeper than just basketball skills.
“His mom and dad are great people, and they are very supportive of him,” said Marsh. “The apple doesn’t fall far, as they say.”
While saying goodbye to character players is part of being a high school coach, Marsh is going to miss Manigault.
“Jake is just one of my favorite people,” said the coach. “He’s a good dude. He’ll have anybody’s back. He will stand up to me, if he thinks I’m being unfair to somebody, so he is a good dude all around for sure.
“He is a joy to coach. He is a great kid with great character. It’s really been a joy to be able to coach him.”
