Entering his sixth season as an assistant coach with the Broncos and
eighth overall in the Mid-American Conference, Cornell Mann has
established himself as one of the top assistants in the league and the
region.
During his tenure at both WMU and Central Michigan, Mann has played a
large role in leading both programs to MAC titles, NCAA Tournament and
Postseason NIT appearances. After helping CMU to the championship in
2003, he returned to postseason play with the Broncos in 2004 and 2005.
With Mann onboard, the Broncos have experienced some of the most
sustained success in school history with five-straight top-two finishes
in the MAC West, including division titles in 2004, 2005 and 2008.
Very familiar with the MAC, Mann has not only coached at CMU and WMU,
but he also spent three seasons (1993-95) as a player at the University
of Akron.
Mann focuses his coaching efforts on the Bronco perimeter corps while
also contributing selected scouting reports throughout the course of
the campaign. He uses his valuable coaching experience in the
region to help supervise the program’s recruiting efforts. Mann has
been one of the top recruiters in the state of Michigan and is
considered one of the top assistants in the Midwest since joining the
ranks of MAC coaches.
Mann’s work mentoring the perimeter players on defense helped WMU lead
the MAC and rank 37th in the country in field goal percentage defense
(.407) in 2007-08. The Broncos were also 84th in the country in scoring
defense (65.0 ppg) after holding 11 opponents to 59 points or less.
He continued to mentor David Kool as he became a First Team All-MAC
player in his sophomore season and was named MAC MVP by
CollegeInsider.com.
In 2006-07, Mann helped mold Kool into the MAC Freshman of the Year and
oversaw Shawnt?s Gary’s development into an All-MAC guard in just his
second season as a Bronco. For the second straight year, Mann also
helped coach the conference’s leader in assists in first-year transfer
Michael Redell.
In 2005-06, point guard Brian Snider led the MAC in assists and steals
on his way to being named Honorable Mention All-MAC. Under Mann’s
tutelage, Snider finished his career second all-time in assists and
sixth in steals.
Under his direction in 2003-04, Ben Reed and Reggie Berry developed
into a pair of the league’s top players. Reed was named First
Team All-MAC and Berry captured the MAC Sixth Man of the Year
award. Reed returned to the first team in 2004-05 and the senior
guard tandem of he and Rickey Willis was among the best in the MAC.
While in Mt. Pleasant, Mann played a key role in the development of the
program, which was highlighted by a MAC Tournament title and NCAA
Tournament appearance in 2002-03. CMU went on to drop Creighton
in the opening round before falling to Duke.
Prior to his arrival at CMU, Mann spent a pair of campaigns as the head
coach at Oak Park High School near Detroit. During his tenure he
was also an assistant coach with the Michigan Mustangs (17-and-under)
AAU team.
Mann’s collegiate experience also includes assistant coaching stops at
Colby Community College in Colby, Kansas (1998-99), and Elmira College
in Elmira, N.Y. (1997-98). At Colby, he was the interim head
coach for the season.
The Royal Oak Township native was an all-state performer at Ferndale
High School, where he earned league MVP accolades and a nomination to
the McDonald’s High School All-America Team. He headed to the
University of Colorado upon graduation and was a member of the 1991
Postseason NIT Final Four squad.
Mann transferred to Akron for his final three years of eligibility and
was named the program’s top defensive player while ranking among the
league leaders in steals. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in
family development from Akron in 1995.
Mann has one son, Maliq (6).
