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That’s two more than John Wooden’s UCLA men's teams managed.
So many people share in this moment and hope for an unprecedented 12th title in a span of only 25 years. Among them is Fairfield native Elliot Herman.
The Fairfield Ludlowe grad (Class of ’15), who is now a senior at UConn majoring in Communications with a Marketing minor, has served as one of several student managers for the team over the past two years.
Herman heard about openings for student managers from a friend in the Sports Management department. Hundreds of students apply for the two to three spots that open up each year.
Becoming a student manager is no different than going through a typical job application process.
“It was very competitive,” said Herman. “I was lucky enough to get interviewed and make it through all the rounds of interviews.”
Duties include keeping stats, having towels and water ready and handing them out during practices and games, keeping track of the clock during practices and game and media timeouts, having stools and whiteboards ready to go, rebounding balls and more. During the season, Herman would attend three out of six practices a week, getting there about an hour before the team arrives to set up.
"At the first practice I was surprised how high-paced it is and how many hands on deck they have," said Herman.
While not traveling with the team during this year’s March Madness (the team does not take all student managers for away games), Herman will still help out at practices when the team comes home before heading to the Final Four in Tampa, FL.
“You can imagine how intense those practices will be,” said Herman, who has nothing but praise for the players.
“The team, they’re all Grade A players. They can do special stuff out there.”
Coach Geno Auriemma is not left out from Herman's praise.
“He’s so humble and there’s so much that can be learned from him on and off the court. We talked for about 30 minutes at one team meal and had a great conversation. He’s really just a great guy.”
While his favorite part is rebounding for the team, the memory that stands out for the student manager is his very first game.
“I’ll never forget the first game I worked at Gampel,” said Herman. “I was so nervous to go out there. I just went out and tossed the players the ball for warmups, and it just felt so crazy to be in Gampel and hear all those fans cheering. I know it wasn’t for me, but I’d like to think that I gave the players a nice pass. It’s just a crazy feeling.”
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