Photo courtesy of Nate Bohn | The 2017-18 Xavier basketball managers work extremely hard to help the men’s basketball team operate smoothly. Sophomore Nate Bohn, who is in his second year as a basketball manager, shares his experiences.
Behind the scenes of Xavier’s beloved basketball team lies the fuel for the machine: the team managers.
This week, I sat down with sophomore men’s basketball manager Nate Bohn and discussed his life as a manager for Xavier.
Bohn described his line of work as everything that goes on behind the scenes, whether it’s providing players with water, working the clock or even doing the team’s laundry.
Bohn says the managers joke around, saying their title should be “crisis management” as opposed to just manager.
As a returning manager this year, Bohn has been allowed to start editing both practice and game film for coach Chris Mack and his staff.
He also said that for an away game, if there is any doubt on what to pack, the managers normally pack everything so the players and coaches have all the necessary equipment.
What Bohn likes most about his job is the camaraderie and being able to meet people right when he arrived on campus last fall. Having a core group of about 16 friends or so when he moved in made his transition to college quite smooth.
Bohn mentioned that the managers have a lot of inside jokes which also shows the bond that is created between them.
Bohn also shared how the manager exhibition games against other schools is one way the managers are rewarded for their hard work.
With all the enjoyable parts of being a manager come the more difficult tasks, however.
Bohn said the time commitment is overlooked by most stating, “(Managers put in) as much time, if not, more time than a student athlete without having the cool title of being a student athlete.”
Being a manager is a major time commitment that calls for a lot of work. For instance, laundry needs to be consistently done to make sure all gear is ready for the next day or even later in the day if it’s for summer double sessions. Even with these time-consuming tasks, Bohn still loves what he does.
“J.P. and Tyrique like to wrestle in the locker room,” Bohn said.
J.P. Macura and Tyrique Jones, Bohn added, are the biggest personalities on the team. Jones and Macura seem to always be the guys keeping the team loose day in and day out.
Coach Mack is “the man,” as Bohn said, and he elaborated on how Mack does a fantastic job of being the face of the program and has a great knowledge for the game.
Mack knows each manager’s name and appreciates all the work they do. Bohn also said that Mack does a great job being both friend and coach with his players and connects with all of them on a personal level.
That is the type of man fans should want to have leading this on-the-rise program as the Musketeers have hopes of gaining elite status.
By: Tim Kramer ~Staff Writer~