Four years ago, as Duke was prepping for its Countdown to Craziness, Ryan Kelly was wheeling a tub of Gatorade down a hallway in Cameron Indoor Stadium. He lost control of the dolly he was using and the orange liquid spilled everywhere -- just as Mike Krzyzewski rounded the corner.
"Oh my god. I thought I was going to get fired,'' Kelly said.
It's not easy getting a manager recruiting gig. Here's some of what it will require. Courtesy of Michigan State
For the record, Krzyzewski laughed, turned to someone and joked, "Must be a freshman."
His peers know his horror.
"You don't want to be late with anything at practice,'' Michigan State senior Andrew Novak said. "Coach [Tom Izzo] will yell, 'Let's go. Let's GO. LET'S GO.''
And so they scurry, this bastion of hoop servants who are often seen yet never cited, reacting like Pavlov's dogs to a timeout horn to set up chairs and distribute water bottles, towels and whiteboards.
They have been chosen from rigorous selection processes that include interviews, job shadows and even essays.
They are the few, the proud ... the managers?
Seriously?
"We do take our jobs seriously, but we have serious jobs,'' said Alessandro Sant'Albano, a Duke manager by way of Turin, Italy.
Was it really necessary for the Duke Blue Devils managers to protect an injured Tyus Jones from prying eyes with a curtain of towels as if he were a horse on a track after a catastrophic injury?
Do candidates for the Kentucky Wildcats really need to work camp to prove their worth?
To be water boys (and girls)?
The answer is yes, and yes.
Student managers might be the lowest rung on the athletic food chain, but they have become a vital cog in the basketball machine. And while being a real Cinderella in the NCAA tournament might require a lot of hard work and sweat (or mopping up someone else's) these menial jobs are coveted on-campus gigs because they have some serious fairy godmother benefits.
The obvious attraction is access (an insider's entre to big-name programs), but the less obvious attraction is ... also access. Most mangers have their eye on a future career in sports and have seen how their predecessors have parlayed the art of making Gatorade into full-time gigs.
The Duke managers are all smiles here, but the work isn't all fun and games. Actually, it's a lot of hard work. Courtesy of Mike Bradley/Duke Blue Planet
Brian DeStefano, former Duke manager, is now associate head coach at Harvard.
Mark Evans, now the equipment manager at Kentucky, was with Calipari at both Memphis and Kentucky as a student manager.
Katherine Vosters graduated from Wisconsin in 2013, after having served three years as a manager. She just finished her second season as the Badgers' director of basketball operations.
And then there are the Paugas, the patron saints of managers. Brian, the younger brother, turned his undergrad experience at Michigan State into an internship with the San Antonio Spurs. Eight years later, he's the team's director of scouting. His brother, Kevin, went from Spartan manager to a full-time director of operations position and owner of a well-read analytics report, the KPI.
So feel free to laugh at their earnest efforts as servants to their peers. They'll have the last laugh when they cash their first paychecks.
"I've seen how many guys have moved on,'' Novak said. "I saw this as an opportunity.''
Plenty of others do, too, but not everyone makes the cut. The odds, in fact, of becoming a manager at an elite program are about as stacked as the odds of playing for an elite program.
Each of the Final Four schools sift through hundreds of applications annually, choosing no more than three or four managers each year.
The application process at all four is rigorous. Michigan State includes job shadowing and an essay. Kentucky asks aspiring managers to work camp before inviting a few for interviews. Wisconsin holds mock workouts. Duke puts candidates through multiple rounds of interviews.
And so we pause here to ask again: Take this stuff a little seriously, people?
"You need people who are here for the right reason,'' said Evans, from Kentucky. "When I say that, the best way to explain what we do is we're the first people to turn the lights on and the last ones to turn the lights off. You have to want to do this.''
Kids who show up and want the perks -- the good seats on the bench, access to the inner workings of the big-name program, the gear, the travel, in other words, the "glamour" -- generally aren't chosen.
Because, as Vosters points out, that's a very small part of the job. Mostly it's behind-the-scenes prep work and cleanup. Often it's for little to no pay. Wisconsin managers receive a small stipend; Duke and Michigan State's groups get no pay at all.
Katherine Vosters parlayed her job as a manager into a bigger role with Wisconsin basketball. AP Photo/Nati Harnik
Kentucky, on the other hand, has a scholarship fund for its managers, named after Bill Keightley, the school's beloved equipment manager of 48 years who died in 2008.
So instead of people looking for glitz and glamour, schools are looking for students who want to:
• Haul luggage onto planes and buses in the wee hours
• Fill and refill Gatorade tubs
• Cut and edit film until their eyes cross
• Chart hustle plays and other obscure stats at games
• Work camps in the summer
• Sacrifice weekends and holiday trips in exchange for practices
• Stand, as they do at Duke, just so far apart, ball tucked under one arm, other arm on hip, towel over shoulder.
In other words, people who are willing to do just about whatever they are asked to make life easier for basketball players their own age.
So who in the world are these people?
Most have a similar story.
Kelly grew up in Massachusetts, a self-described lifelong Duke fan with eyes on a career in physical therapy. He was invited to the staff of 12 as a freshman.
"I was the happiest kid in the world," he said. "I was running around the dorm like a nut.''
Now a rising senior, he headed to New York last month, invited by Justise Winslow for the NBA draft. In March, he'll take part in senior day, at Cameron Indoor Stadium, against North Carolina. His father, Terry, a factory worker, will be there (his mother passed away).
"It can't get better than that,'' he said.
Duke manager Ryan Kelly has been a part of the Blue Devils' staff since he was a freshman. Courtesy of Mike Bradley/Duke Blue Planet
Novak is from outside of Chicago, an ex-high school baseball and basketball player. He's in the Michigan State business school and would love a career in either college or professional sports. He's been tubing, pulled on a pontoon boat driven by a happily crazed Izzo, who was intent on whipping the boat so fast his managers would fly off into the water.
Vosters is a Wisconsin native, the daughter of season-ticket-holding parents who was never going to college anywhere but Madison. The lifelong Badgers fan allowed herself a moment to look down the bench this season, as the final seconds were ticking away in Wisconsin's upset of Kentucky.
"It's a feeling I can't describe,'' she said. "I knew how hard everyone on that bench had worked. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.''
A three-sport athlete in Elmira, New York, Evans had a high school friend who was a student manager at Alabama. With designs on a career in sports himself, he took a chance and went to Memphis, where he found the competition to take care of the basketball team wasn't too fierce. He signed up as a freshman, but a year later John Calipari was off to Kentucky.
"I was like, 'Uh-oh. Was this all for nothing?'" Evans said.
Instead, Evans asked Calipari if he could stay on staff if he also made the move to Lexington. Calipari agreed and Evans transferred.
In 2012, he was on the bench when the Wildcats won the national championship.
There has to be an outlier in every bunch.
That would be Sant'Albano, the curly-haired senior manager at Duke. His father was once the CEO of Juventus, one of the world's premier soccer teams, and is now international CEO of Cushman & Wakefield, a multibillion dollar commercial real estate firm.
And he spent the past year wiping up Jahlil Okafor's sweat?
"My family taught me hard work,'' he said. "They believe you have to start any job from the ground up to really know it.''
Ground level on a recent June day saw Sant'Albano giddy with triumph after the managers beat the campers in a game of knockout.
"We haven't won in eight years,'' he said. "We could sweep if we win the third session.''
He was serious.
They all are, serious about a job at which most of us would scoff.
But when they graduate with letters of recommendation from Bo Ryan, Izzo, Calipari and Krzyzewski, guess who will be laughing then?
A Day in the Life of a College Basketball Student Manager
When you think of a college basketball team, you think of the main components. There's the players of course, the head coach, and the coach's ever-so-important staff that train their players and set lineups. But what people often forget is that there's another group of key players that make the program function smoothly: the team managers. On the court, you'll see them formally dressed, handing out towels and water bottles during timeouts. Aside from the task of physical revitalization, they help mentally prepare the players for the next play or sequence that lies ahead of them. But between games, these students fill enormous responsibilities for their respective basketball programs.
I want you to sit back and imagine that you're a student manager for your favorite college basketball team. You'll be going through a week full of practices, games, and NCAA Tournament preparation. Think you can handle the pressure? You may not know just what's in store for you. I interviewed Illinois team managers Ryan Schmidt, Drew Dunn, and TJ Rickert and Villanova manager Sean Catalano in order to get a better feel for the life of a student manager.
So sit back, and enjoy the ride as you discover what its like to be behind the scenes of a collegiate basketball program.
Your Week
As you tackle your week as a student manager, you can expect to spend anywhere from 20-40 hours working with the program. When you begin to factor in coursework and any extracurricular activities or jobs that most college students have, it becomes a lot of work. The head managers, or upperclassmen, tend to take on a majority of the team manager duties, and when you account for travel time, it becomes a major commitment.
Practice
As you start your week as a student manager, you'll attend your first practice with the basketball team. But before the players even take the court, there are a number of things that need to be done. "On court we deal with everything from wiping up sweat, to making sure the guys all have the appropriate gear and attire," noted Villanova Team Manager Sean Catalano. These team managers help ensure that both the coaching staff and the players can focus solely on basketball rather than the logistics of the practice itself.
Team managers are very active during team practices, as one may expect. Illinois Basketball Head Manager Ryan Schmidt notes that a number of tasks, including live drill practicing, refereeing, clock keeping, and stat recording, are divvied up among the team's managers. There's essentially never a dull moment for student managers on the floor during a team practice, and if you're lucky, you could just get to participate in practice with the players themselves, running drills and playing alongside the team.
Home Game
You made it through practice, but your first home game as a student manager awaits. At the State Farm Center in Champagne, Illinois, you can see team managers Schmidt, Dunn, and Rickert setting up two hours before tip-off. Before the game starts, you will need to prepare all of the team's equipment and ensure that it conforms with NCAA standards. Benches need to be arranged in a specific manner, coolers need to be filled, and stat sheets and dry erase boards need to be ready.
Once it's a bit closer to game time, you'll help out on the floor rebounding and distributing for the players during shootaround. Both Schmidt and Catalano note that their pregame duties encompass anything in particular that needs to be done for the coaching staff. For example, Catalano notes that student managers often help show recruits or special guests to their seats or the locker room prior to tip-off.
Away Game
One of the most important parts about being a student manager is traveling with the team and performing duties during away games. Playing on the road is stressful enough, and if a team isn't properly prepared, a lot can go wrong.
With a limited amount of travel opportunity, not everyone is able to help out during away games. Illinois usually has only 4-5 bodies to help with shootaround on the road as compared to anywhere from 10-12 at home. This means that everything must run as efficiently as possible. Away games usually require more responsibilities, such as loading and unloading the buses from the hotel to the arena.
Given how hard it is to win on the road in both the Big Ten and the Big East conferences, it's pivotal that all of the little things are done correctly before, during, and after games. Student managers are in charge of making sure all of this runs efficiently, because those little things are the last thing a coach needs on his mind before a big game.
The NCAA Tournament
Your team made it into the NCAA Tournament, and although you want to celebrate, there's tons of work to be done. Catalano notes that the most stressful thing about being a team manager is having to prepare tape for Coach Wright and his staff before the Big Dance. Once the field is announced, managers are quick to work, clipping tapes and trimming them down so that the coach doesn't have to sort through an entire game. Catalano notes that clips are taken from a team's last four games, and this must be done for the first round opponent, and both possible second round opponents. So within a matter of a few hours, you'll need to have clipped and assembled tape from 12 different games so that your coach can view it and plan practice in the days to come. Sound stressful?
Catalano notes that the NCAA Tournament is an "amped up version of an away game." With all of the media attention, there is a huge responsibility to keep things in line, and the higher a team is seeded, the more pressure that tends to accompany those games. Catalano jokingly notes that Villanova being seeded #1 and #2 over the past two seasons hasn't helped with the stress associated with the position.
The Offseason
Your season is over, and your week is beginning to come to a close, but just because there aren't anymore games doesn't mean that your job is done. Recruiting is a full-time job, and with coaches gone away on recruiting visits throughout the spring and summer, you can expect team managers to be right there with them for assistance. "We are very active during recruiting visits, whether that includes saving tables at restaurants for coaches and recruits as well as with the logistics behind the visit," said Schmidt, Dunn, and Rickert.
While the team managers certainly help with recruiting the next class of students, they're also working with young basketball players in the summer to help develop their games. Schmidt, Dunn, and Rickert of Illinois spend a large chunk of June working at a variety of summer basketball camps. From parent-junior camps to high school team camps, team managers spend a lot of time around the game.
But that's not even the half of it. You can't forget about the existing players on the team. Managers play a huge role assisting with both team and individual workouts. Conditioning, like recruiting, essentially doesn't have an offseason, so team managers are always helping the players stay in shape.
The Impact
Well, it seems you've made it, and with all that you've done, you've more than likely taken something away from your experience as a student manager. For one, you get the great opportunity to work with your university's basketball program. You get a front row seat to every single game, and your a huge part of what makes the program function smoothly. The friendships and experiences you'll have will last a lifetime, and the opportunities you'll have will be incredibly intriguing and memorable.
Being a student manager is all about hard work. If being a college student wasn't stressful enough, these guys dedicate a huge chunk of their time to help their respective basketball programs succeed to their full potential. And hard work does pay off. Villanova's Sean Catalano was given the opportunity to work with Wasserman Media Group, the premier sports agency in Los Angeles, with a chance to work with some big names in basketball. Catalano has worked with Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis, to name a few, and has even gotten the chance to play pick-up basketball with the NBA superstars. He notes that it was "a dream come true" for him, and he cherishes the opportunity.
Ryan Schmidt of Illinois had his dream come true as well. The dedicated student manager had the chance to suit up for the Fighting Illini when head coach John Groce's roster was plagued by injury and suspensions. The former high school basketball player got to dress in the team uniform and play in his first collegiate basketball game in a home matchup against the Michigan Wolverines. For Ryan Schmidt, being a student manager let him to live out his dream by suiting up for the Orange and Blue.
For Catalano, Schmidt, and all the other student managers across the country, the position is about hard work, dedication, and commitment to both your school's basketball program and your dreams as an individual.
Basketball club management
Basketball club management
1. Club manager.
Manager - first of all, a person who respects his university, wants to develop in the field of sports management and / or just loves basketball. It is important to understand that the job of a manager involves a wide range of responsibilities, ranging from administrative tasks related to the participation of the team in the ASB championship and the management of communities on social networks, and ending with working with partners and holding full-scale basketball events. It is on the quality of his work that the image of the club and the entire university depends.
Speaking of opportunities, it is important to understand that this is not only a good platform and experienced coaches. Students who set themselves high sports goals, like any other athletes, want to get into those clubs where there will be an appropriate atmosphere, where fans will drive the team forward, bright moments and victories will receive enough coverage and public recognition, and the club management will create the appropriate conditions to combine sports and study. All this is achieved through the serious and painstaking work of club managers, leagues, marketers, PR, journalists, SMM, media and other specialists.
2. Manager search
Before looking for a suitable person, it is important to clearly understand what he will do and what tasks he will face. It is worth noting that each potential manager may have his own motivation for working in the SBC (student basketball club), and different opportunities may also open up. Participation in the life of a basketball team, gaining new interesting experience or professional practice, increasing authority in front of the leadership of the university for active social work, receiving an additional scholarship or condition, developing basketball in a university, region, country, or simply being the center of a company of friends and like-minded people - anything can attract a person to become a SBC manager, it is important to understand what and convey accordingly.
Players
Many good managers are just players who decide to be useful to the team off the court. It is they who most often achieve the highest results, since they have "outrageous motivation." As a rule, in each university there are students who do not get into the composition due to high competition, but, at the same time, they really want to help the team in some other way. The coach is usually aware of all active basketball players in the university.
Friends and fans
Very often situations arise when one of the players called his friend, relative, classmate or just an acquaintance to watch and support the team's game, and the invited guest was so imbued with the team and the atmosphere at the match that he began to go to all the games and actively cheer for the team . If a person is imbued with the values of the team and shares its desire to achieve high sports results, then this is a great help to become a good manager of the student basketball club.
Student associations
An effective way to attract a manager to the club is to interact with various student associations at the university: student council, trade union committee or some other student clubs. Often it is these organizations that unite the most active students at the university who really want to somehow prove themselves, show what they are capable of and gain new interesting experience.
SSK
Almost every university today has student sports clubs that develop mass student sports with the help of ordinary students. Organizers of sports events and competitions, managers, photographers, videographers, journalists, SMMs, students who want to develop sports at the university and be involved in it gather there.
Social networks
Use social media. All students use social networks in one way or another. Compose an intriguing text and add an interesting photo from one of the games or draw an eye-catching picture with information about the opportunity to become a manager of a college basketball team. Ask to post your news in various large communities of the university (not only sports), team players to repost. Invite interested students for interviews, after which it will be possible to choose not one, but several managers for different areas of SBC activity, so you will assemble your team. Perhaps someone wants to be a photographer at matches, and someone wants to interview the team and write interesting articles, be a journalist, etc.
where to study, salary, pros and cons
Author: Professional Guide
Updated by
Basketball player is a professional basketball player. Such a team game is popular, first of all, in the USA. In Russia, it is somewhat inferior to football and hockey, but still quite in demand. By the way, the ProfGid career guidance center has recently developed an accurate career guidance test that will tell you which professions suit you, give an opinion about your personality type and intelligence.
Professional knowledge
Famous basketball players
Examples of companies with basketball vacancies
See also:
Brief description: who is a basketball player?
The basic rules of the game of basketball are usually known to everyone: two teams enter the field, the one that scores more points wins. Points are given for hitting the ball into a basket hanging at a height of 3.05 meters from the floor. The number of points that is counted for each hit depends on the distance from which the throw was made. In the process of moving around the field, players must dribble the ball, beating it off the floor, and not hold it in their hands.
Features of the profession
A professional sports career requires a lot of energy, effort, time and dedication. A basketball player must always be in good shape, his salary and popularity largely depend on the performance of his performance on the field, and he must work closely with other team members. The main duties of a basketball player are as follows:
Daily attendance at training.
Compliance with the regime of the day and nutrition.
Participation in matches.
Participation in non-match events of the club.
Regular medical examination, following the recommendations of the doctor and trainer.
A basketball player must be prepared for the fact that he will periodically have to change the clubs he plays for, participate in international competitions from his country, and even during the match, cooperate with different groups of players (frequent substitutions are very common in this game).
Pros and cons of the basketball profession
Pros
Prestigious profession with a decent salary.
Opportunity to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Opportunity to travel, communicate with representatives of different countries and peoples.
The joy of victories and the support of the fans.
See also:
Cons
The need for talent or extensive experience to gain recognition and sign expensive contracts.
In order to successfully fill a basketball position and be successful in this field, an athlete must be in very good physical condition, must not have serious chronic diseases, must have excellent stamina, concentration, movement speed and reactions, perfect coordination. Most often, very tall athletes become successful basketball players. Analytical thinking, the ability to follow the strategy developed by the coach, make decisions quickly, and work together with the rest of the team will also not interfere.
Basketball training
Russian universities and colleges do not offer basketball training as such. You can learn how to play basketball in sports schools, and then improve your skills in basketball clubs. In parallel, you can get a sports education (including to successfully work as a coach after completing a career in big-time sports). In this context, the specialty "Physical Education" in colleges (code 49.02.01) or the same name in universities (code 49.03.01). A certificate is sufficient for admission to a secondary school, in addition to it, the results of the Unified State Examination in the Russian language, biology and physics are required for admission to the university.
Courses
Stremlenie Basketball Club
Thinking about where to get the profession of a basketball player, if you have the appropriate inclinations, is necessary from childhood. Therefore, most basketball schools offer training for children and teenagers. One of these schools is the Stremlenie basketball club, where individual and team trainings are held. Members of the club also take part in competitions.
Best universities for basketball players
MSPU
RGSU
MGOU
RGUFKSMiT
RGUFK them. P.F. Lesgafta
RSPU im. A.I. Herzen
Read also:
Place of work
Basketball players play for basketball clubs, national teams. At the end of their careers, they work as coaches (both in adult clubs and in children's sports schools).
Salary of a basketball player
The level of income of such an athlete directly depends on his talent, experience, professionalism and fame. The more useful a basketball player can bring to the club, the higher the salary will be offered to him.
Basketball player salary for October 2022
Salary information provided by hh.ru portal.
Russia 100000-250000₽
Career growth
Building a career for a professional athlete is about improving your skills and getting more and more lucrative offers from clubs.
And while being a real Cinderella in the NCAA tournament might require a lot of hard work and sweat (or mopping up someone else's) these menial jobs are coveted on-campus gigs because they have some serious fairy godmother benefits.
She just finished her second season as the Badgers' director of basketball operations.
There's the players of course, the head coach, and the coach's ever-so-important staff that train their players and set lineups. But what people often forget is that there's another group of key players that make the program function smoothly: the team managers. On the court, you'll see them formally dressed, handing out towels and water bottles during timeouts. Aside from the task of physical revitalization, they help mentally prepare the players for the next play or sequence that lies ahead of them. But between games, these students fill enormous responsibilities for their respective basketball programs.
Sound stressful?
Schmidt, Dunn, and Rickert of Illinois spend a large chunk of June working at a variety of summer basketball camps. From parent-junior camps to high school team camps, team managers spend a lot of time around the game.
For Ryan Schmidt, being a student manager let him to live out his dream by suiting up for the Orange and Blue.
Compose an intriguing text and add an interesting photo from one of the games or draw an eye-catching picture with information about the opportunity to become a manager of a college basketball team. Ask to post your news in various large communities of the university (not only sports), team players to repost. Invite interested students for interviews, after which it will be possible to choose not one, but several managers for different areas of SBC activity, so you will assemble your team. Perhaps someone wants to be a photographer at matches, and someone wants to interview the team and write interesting articles, be a journalist, etc. 
By the way, the ProfGid career guidance center has recently developed an accurate career guidance test that will tell you which professions suit you, give an opinion about your personality type and intelligence. 
A basketball player must always be in good shape, his salary and popularity largely depend on the performance of his performance on the field, and he must work closely with other team members. The main duties of a basketball player are as follows: 
Members of the club also take part in competitions. 
