‘You have to love the game’: Inner workings of Division I men’s basketball Managers Games

(Photo courtesy: Manager Games/X)

NCAA Basketball team managers, like the jobs they do, are versatile. No two managers look the same, possess the same desires, or have the same skills. In fact, there’s likely only one amalgamating characteristic amongst all college basketball managers who willingly allocate more than 50 hours a week to aid their program in the proverbial “dirty work” — laundry, rebounding, water and snacks to name some — The love of the game.

The nights before their teams play each other — often as late as midnight or beyond — managers will wake their sleeping practice facilities up to host their own games. They get the chance to divulge their competitive desires to continue competing. The love for the sport is still there and the urge to stay involved in the game never changes, even if they’re not Division I basketball players

“You have to love the game if you’re going to be a manager,” former Arizona State manager Jack Thompson said. “You can not be a kind of basketball fan. You have to love it.”

Sometimes they’re paid. Sometimes they’re not. Some get recognized by the fans on their senior night, a brief but glorious moment in the spotlight that is usually reserved for the players themselves to receive acclaim from the fans who most likely have never heard their name. Others don’t. The world of being a basketball manager is often of the thankless hero.

“You’re doing stuff that usually would have the reward of playing in the games,” Thompson said. “But we just don’t play the games.”

The official games, that is.

While the world’s attention will be trained in Glendale for the Final Four Saturday night, the commonly unsung heroes of college basketball programs will be competing in the season finale of their own March Madness the Friday night prior in the same city. The “Manager Games,” a nationwide league between basketball managers at their respective schools, will compete in their Elite Eight to crown a champion in Phoenix this weekend.

The league started fairly recently in the mid-2010s but organized competition between managing staffs wasn’t new. The tracking of the results and subsequent ranking of them nationwide was.

“Teams have always been playing against each other head-to-head for years and years, but back in the 2014-15 season, a couple of managers at Michigan State decided to start keeping tabs on the Big Ten, putting it out on Twitter, just calling a conference champion,” said Thomas Northcutt, who is a former Auburn team manager and one of the original board members of the Manager Games. “Just for fun, and as that year went along, more managers started seeing it on social media. Everybody started hearing about it. By the end of that season, and starting the next one, it went from just a Big Ten thing to a national thing.”

By 2015-16, what started as just friendly competition in the Big Ten quickly caught fire across the nation and expanded.

“Everybody was starting to pay attention and dial in, which is cool,” Northcutt said. “And that year, it had its first postseason tournament. There were a lot of games being played across the country. Just from there, it’s boomed. It’s not slowed down ever since.”

The games between groups of managers are played by any means necessary but traditionally occur the night before in practice facilities or arenas, whichever resource is available for the contest. Visiting managers who travel with their team are often forced to participate in a transportation jigsaw to get from the team’s hotel to the facility.

“Guys might have to walk over to the gym,” Northcutt said. “Some guys might be [taking an Uber]’.”

Rideshares were not as prominent back when Northcutt was an Auburn manager, that’s when the challenges arose.

“There’s a couple of times when I had to cram as many opposing managers in the back of my car and drive over to the gym from their hotel before playing head-to-head in whatever gym is available,” Northcutt said.

Former Arizona State manager Jack Gatto also remembered having to enlist the help of residents of the visiting city he was in just to get to the facilities.

“I remember a trip up to Oregon State,” Gatto said. “I’m from Oregon and had to have some of my buddies that went to Oregon State come and pick us up and help us out, getting to the gym.”

The late-night contests aren’t just for the managers to exercise their athletic abilities. They also serve as an opportunity to be in the spotlight, receiving support from the players they work with daily. It’s commonplace to have the official players and even coaches coming to watch and vehemently support their managers.

“I remember my freshman year when we were playing Grand Canyon (University) and almost all the players were there from both teams,” Thompson said. “ It was cool because those were the guys that you support as a manager and you do stuff for, and they were there supporting us, having fun, being loud, so it felt like a little student section whenever you were playing.”

The effort to play the games and the support from the Division 1 players is evidence of love and recognition for the Manager Games and what it stands for from its participants. The notoriety the league has garnered only perpetuates come tournament time.

After every regular season game, a picture of both teams and the scoreboard is sent to the official Manager Games X, formerly known as Twitter, account operated by Ian May and Andrew Novak, the original founders, with Northcutt who act as the brain trust of the entire operation. That’s when the magic happens, compiling the results and through a mathematical formula developed by Kevin Pauga, who is a former Michigan State manager and current assistant athletic director, to release regular season rankings, standings and eventually the league’s 64-team Tournament.

The first three rounds of the tournament until the Elite Eight teams that travel are determined almost exclusively through social media polling. That’s when everyone from current NBA players to professional analysts and sports personalities show support on social media to their alma maters or favorite schools. It’s a testament to the appreciation the community has for their behind-the-scenes heroes and their moment in the spotlight.

“Those (social media) polls go crazy,” Northcutt said. “We have so many big names. This year’s polls just wrapped up. We had some funny names jump in. Dirk (Nowitzki)’s family out of all people tweeted to support Tennessee. We had (social media influencer) Brandon Walker from Barstool Sports jumped in right at the very end and helped push Mississippi State. Guys like (former Kentucky shooting guard) Rex Chapman, who is now a college basketball analyst. NBA players supporting their guys, we’ve had Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, you name them they support.”

Even politicians will get involved in the voting in an attempt to send their community’s managers to the Final Four host cities in an attempt to conquer the field.

“My favorite random name I always see is former governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie,” Northcutt said. “His daughter was a four-year manager at Notre Dame and so for years, (we) would get a push notification (about his vote) during March from Christie.”

The teams will run their individual voting campaigns enlisting local TV stations and public support from their athletic departments along with celebrity co-signs to garner votes for their team. An outpouring of support comes in March from all avenues and is almost always in abundance.

“There’s so many people from so many different walks of life that come together to support these guys,” Northcutt said. “Coaches, players, former players, it’s all cool to see.”

While it is a fun endeavor to see the public outpouring of support, not all participants in the league are fans of the voting method for advancing in the tournament. Some still prefer the old-fashioned way of winning on the court.

“The voting thing, I fully understand why they do it because it’s hard to line up the games, but I’ve been kind of in favor of maybe trying to play the games as best as you can,” Thompson said. “But it is cool because your fan base can get rallied around you, especially on Twitter.”

Once the final eight teams have been determined and seeded, it’s time to play. The teams fund their own travels through fundraising or personal expenses to the Final Four site. Through a partnership with the NCAA, the Elite Eight games take place on a full-seized court that is placed at the Fan Fest, which this year is located at the Phoenix Convention Center.

But just like the regular season, the games will occur a night before the stars take the floor to begin the Final Four. Friday night is the time for the managers to vie for their form of glory.

Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi State, Michigan State, Kentucky, Fordham, and Iowa State make up the 2024 field hoping for a championship in Phoenix. If the past is any indicator of the future, they should compete with a good amount of support.

“We have players’ families that will show up,” Northcutt said. “We always have coaches that show up. There’s a hilarious photo on my phone, (Kentucky head coach) John Calipari came through (in 2023) to watch his guys play. We have a funny picture of Greg Gard, the Wisconsin coach, holding up our trophy. There are always coaches, we always attract a crowd.”

Being a manager for many is a way to connect with their program’s coaches and network in the hope of being professionally involved in the sport after college and above all else simply staying involved with the game.

“Being able to work under (ASU head coach) Bobby Hurley and so many other individuals that have some experience,” Gatto said. “Getting to learn from them and overall, just having a good learning experience and trying to continue my way in the basketball industry.”

Northcutt is currently a graphic designer for the Brooklyn Nets. Puaga is the aforementioned associate athletic director for Michigan State, Novak is a scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Gatto, who graduated from college in 2023, currently works at a marketing agency with hopes of joining an NBA front office one day.

Different people choose the life of a manager for different reasons. It can be hard, the job can be unyielding, and sometimes it may go without notice, but the driving factor never changes. The unbridled and unopposed love for the sport and inclination to stay involved with the game. Through the Manager Games those managers, who work tireless hours to get the players and team ready to succeed, get their time to shine.

“Some guys are doing this,” Nortcutt said. “They just want to be around the game and enjoy it.

“I never had the goal of being a coach. I just like being a manager and being in that atmosphere and sort of figuring out what I wanted to do.”