Managing In The Pac-12

Ben Brodhurst manager at Arizona State University:

My name is Ben Brodhurst and I am a senior at The Arizona State University, and I am in my second year as a student manager for the men's basketball team at ASU. If you noticed, I put student first. My journey as a manager started when I was a student manager at a local community college named Phoenix College. It was there that taught me a lot about being a manager, as well as learning other life lessons as well. It all started one day by going up and talking to the head coach, Matt Gordon, who was the teacher of the basketball class I was taking at the time. I heard about a local high school event taking place at the gym, and asked if he would need any help. From there, I never thought that my life as a manager would take off the way it did.

At first, I thought being a manager was just helping out in practices. Little did I know that I was doing much more than I anticipated. Whether it was editing film or washing the practice jerseys to even receiving late night phone calls from players asking to open up the gym to rebound for them. From the get go, I never thought the amount of time and energy I had put into being a manager at junior college level ever came across my mind when I asked the coach if he needed any help. Even though it was a lot of hard work, time and dedication, success happened. In my two years at Phoenix College, my first year we reached the region championship game only to lose in overtime by 3 points. That year we didn't have the most outstanding talent, but we had guys that worked their butts off. Guys like Justin Salzwedel, Joshua Joe, Stevie Ledesma, Curtis Mitchell, Wes Jones, and so many other guys who just loved the game and didn't care about themselves, all they cared about was winning. My second year was the year when we really broke through. Prior to my arrival at Phoenix, Coach Matt Gordon had lead the Bears to the nationals for the first time in their history, his highest finish being 5th place at nationals. My second year, we trumped that making it all the way to the national tournament and finishing 4th, the highest ending result of any West Coast junior college participating in the NJCAA. It was that team that I felt the most connected with as a person, and not just a manager. Returning guys like Stevie, Curtis, Wes Jones, and Joshua ll deserved it especially after the hard work they put in during the offseason after a tumultuous defeat a year ago.

I knew from that lifetime experience, I wanted to be a manager at the next level. Even though at the time after graduating Phoenix, I wanted to go to another school, I fell in love with Arizona State. The people, the atmosphere, the town. Tempe is like no other college town in America, and that was the key selling point for me. Another key selling point was the men's basketball program. Luckily enough for me, I was accepted as a student manager on behalf of a great recommendation by Coach Gordon to the staff. Coming from a JUCO where I was the only manager to a school like ASU where there were 5 managers was a big shock. I had to learn that everything wasn't reliant on me, but to work together as a team to get things accomplished.

It was here that I learned more about the position and what it entailed, and also where my passion for my ultimate goal in life began to take shape. My ultimate goal in life is to be involved in the game of basketball. Whether it be a General Manager to a Director of Basketball Operations or even to being a head coach, I just wanted to associate myself somewhere professionally, and successfully, with the game of basketball. And by being here at this fine program, I learned what it will take to accomplish my goals. Things like hard work, managing your time successfully, and working as part of a team is what I feel has made me into the successful manager that I am today.

ASU Head Coach Herb Sendek

The times I have had here at ASU, and as short as they have been, are ones that I will take with me for the rest of my life. The games, the moments, the experiences. If I had to pick one game or moment from my time here,  it would be the moments in the office. All the jokes and good times I had with my fellow managers were the best. And the games, the ASU vs. Arizona game is like no other college basketball game I have ever been to. I highly suggest if you are a basketball enthusiast that you add that game to your bucket list. Those two key events and experiences are ones I will take forever.


As for advice for future managers, I would tell them its not as easy as it seems. The time and energy and devotion to the sport you love will test you in many ways. It will test you school wise, it will test you financially, it will test you in many ways to see if you really got what it takes to be in a business that is just like Las Vegas, a business that is 24-7. And if I had to tell future managers the best advices I got, it would be the advice I got from my old assistant coach at Phoenix, Jerry Carillo, "don't let fatigue win". To me, there were plenty of times where I was either frustrated or tired or didn't think I could balance being a student manager, but it was that quote that kept me thinking no matter how tired I am, don't let the negative side win, you be the victor.

And even there is so much more I can write about in detail about what it is like to be a manager, no essay like this can exactly bottle it down on what its like. If you're a manager for a team, you know what it's like. You know the high demand of hours and pressure that are associated with being a part of a team, regardless of sport. The thing that I would say to everyone, and I will leave you with this, is "Don't measure yourself by what you accomplished, but what you should have accomplished with your ability." -John Wooden