Manny Breland was a star at Syracuse's former Central High School, and was the first black player to receive a basketball scholarship at Syracuse University. Breland became a coach, athletic director, and local volunteer, providing guidance for many future leaders.

While he made a name for himself here as a teenager growing up in the old 15th Ward, there were few options available to help keep kids on the right path. Manny and many of his friends spent their leisure time at the Dunbar Center.

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“It was a Mecca,” Breland said. “So the Dunbar was there for us not only for playing athletically, but also the people there were college trained and they sold into us the idea of education.”

Manny averaged just under 10 points per game his first two years. After his junior year, a routine physical turned up a diagnosis that put into question his playing career and his life — he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He sat out the next year and, over the objections of some, he was able to return for his senior season where he led the Orange to their first ever appearance in the NCAA playoffs.

He was the first black basketball player at SU, a member of the first SU team to qualify for the NCAA Tournament and the first black coach in the Syracuse City School District. With all he has done there is one thing Manny, who is still heavily involved in the Dunbar Center, wants to be remembered for.

“Giving back. My career, my life, has been helped so much by people that gave to me that made my life to be what it is, and I know, that's what works,” he said.

Breland may have made a name for himself on the basketball courts of Central New York, but his lasting impact has come from his dedication to the future of Syracuse's African American community.