As the McNeese State Cowboys make their way from the locker room to the court before games, Amir Khan always holds the speaker. It is the perfect example of the sort of odd job a student manager assumes. “We do all the little stuff — the stuff that needs to be done,” Khan tells Hoops HQ. Typically, this stuff garners zero outside attention. One does not take on the role of manager for a share of the spotlight. Most of the work that comes with the position happens behind the scenes.
That’s precisely why this past week has been such a whirlwind for Khan, who all of a sudden seems to be the most famous figure in Lake Charles.
As you surely already know, Khan became an overnight celebrity after a video of him rapping “In & Out” by Lud Foe during one of the Cowboys’ pre-game tunnel walks went viral. He has been dubbed “The Aura King,” “College Basketball’s Ultimate Glue Guy,” “The G.O.A.T” and “That Guy.” His image is all over social media and his phone has been flooded with messages from family and friends. “I didn’t really know how to process it (at first),” Khan says.
The players usually pick a different walk-out song for each game. Khan is unfamiliar with most of their selections, but as McNeese was getting ready to take the court for its home game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Legacy Center on Saturday, he recognized “In & Out” and started rapping along. “You know this song?” junior guard Quadir Copleland said. “Go ahead then!” And Khan — ahem, The Aura King — rapped it word-for-word as the team swaggered through the tunnel.
The video was posted on Monday and immediately went viral. Since then, Khan has gained hundreds of new followers, launched a merchandise line, been featured on the local news and held his own press conference. McNeese senior athletic director Matthew Bonnette, who has been in the industry for more than 20 years, found himself coordinating interviews between the national media and a student manager for the first time in his career.
The timing was perfect: Last week was Student Manager Appreciation Week, a program launched by Grow the Game, a non-profit organization that celebrates student managers and provides them with opportunities to kickstart their careers. As schools across the country posted tributes to their unsung heroes on social media, Grow the Game called Khan “the poster child for every student manager in America.” That may be true, but Khan has been using his newfound fame to shine a light on all of the other managers in college hoops, including the four others at McNeese: Jake Forbes, Landry Donham, Mitchell Eder and Jordan Romero.
It’s even more fitting considering McNeese head coach Will Wade got his start as a student manager at Clemson from 2001-2005. Wade later served as a graduate assistant and Director of Basketball Operations for the Tigers. Several other esteemed head coaches are former student managers, including Michigan’s Dusty May, Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams and Baylor’s Scott Drew. May was a manager under legendary Indiana coach Bob Knight from 1996-2000.
At high major schools, managers often get at least partial scholarships. When he was the head coach at LSU, Wade had two scholarships for manager positions at his disposal. It is a very different story at a mid-major like McNeese. “We don’t have any money to pay them. They don’t get any scholarships,” Wade tells Hoops HQ. “They don’t get anything outside of just being around the team. And they’re here at 5 or 5:30 in the morning, getting set up. They work extremely hard.”
After Wade was hired by McNeese in 2023, he began recruiting potential managers. Khan volunteered for the gig, along with two of his friends since high school, Landry Donham and TJ Richard. Growing up in the Lake Charles area, Khan was a huge LSU fan and followed the basketball team closely during Wade’s successful—albeit controversial—tenure there. The opportunity to work on Wade’s staff was too intriguing for Khan to pass up, even if juggling the role with school would be a major challenge. Khan admits that his first few weeks on the job made him re-think his decision, but he eventually became hooked. “It was a lot more responsibility than I thought,” Khan says. “But after that first month, I really started enjoying it.”
Daily responsibilities for student managers include rebounding for players, setting up and cleaning the gym before practice, assisting in various ways throughout practice (keeping score, operating the clock, participating in drills etc.) and doing countless loads of laundry. As Khan’s widely-shared bio reads, “If they kept manager stats for rebounding and wiping up wet spots on the court, I’d put up Wilt Chamberlain numbers.”
Khan says that the managers at McNeese generally work between six and eight hours a day. The position is a bit more demanding because the program doesn’t have the same resources as big-time Division I schools. For example, laundry must be done far more frequently because each player only has two sets of practice gear. Travel days are the most hectic because managers are tasked with packing up all the bags and carrying them wherever the team goes. “They’re on call at all times. It’s a huge commitment,” Wade says. “It’s a commitment like being a player. They’re a part of the team. They travel with us. It’s a big deal.”
Random chores such as candy runs are often delegated to the managers as well. “Just always be ready to work,” Khan says. “Don’t have it in your mind that you’re going to have an off day.”
The importance of managers cannot be understated. They handle much of the dirty work that allows programs to operate smoothly. They can also have a huge impact on the overall vibe of a locker room. Khan is beloved by the McNeese players, which is apparent not only in the viral clip but in their reactions to Khan’s unexpected stardom. “He’s one of those guys who never has a bad day,” Wade says. “He jokes around with the players. The players joke around with him.”
During one practice, the players all called upon Khan to do the “Iron Man Drill,” a measure of effort and toughness that involves taking a charge, diving for a loose ball and leaping to make a save. Khan didn’t hesitate—he stepped up and attacked the drill with enthusiasm, as the team cheered wildly. “Everybody in your program is important. You want everybody to have good energy and positive energy,” Wade says. “Everybody who’s around the players, you want them to be about the program and want to win and take pride in what they do. And Amir does that. The players can feel that and they feed off of that for sure.”
The energy around McNeese could not be any better than it is right now. The Cowboys just clinched the Southland regular season title for a second consecutive year and are on track to make another NCAA Tournament. They have continued to vary their walk-out song for each game, but Khan says it is likely that “In & Out” will be played again soon—perhaps during March Madness. When it does, Khan will of course be front and center.
“If I can hype the team up in any way, I’m going to try to do that and play my role,” Khan says. “I don’t really dictate a lot of the stuff that happens on the court like the coaches and the players do, so whatever I can do to help, I’m going to try to do it.”
