Managing In The Horizon League

Daniel Shepard's post:

Being a student manager at Loyola has been one of the best experiences I've had and I am definitely glad I decided to be a manager in college. I started my process in becoming a manager by emailing every school I applied to during December of my senior year of high school at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, OH. I worked as the team statistician for the JV and Varsity basketball team and I played on the football team so I had no prior managing experience but I knew I would be majoring in Sports Management. I sent emails to coaches and athletic department administrators at Loyola, Xavier, Ohio State, Louisville, West Virginia, and St. John's. I was trying to get my foot in the door and establish a job with whatever school I ended up picking. The next morning I received three emails from three different people at Loyola, I did not hear anything back from anyone else immediately. Loyola was playing Cleveland State  in a couple of weeks so the Director of Operations Steve Groothuis invited me to the game and to talk and meet with him. I eventually heard back from Xavier, but it was after I had already decided to attend Loyola. Managing wasn't the only reason I chose Loyola, but it was a factor because I knew I would be welcomed into the program right away. I also loved the city of Chicago when I visited and I still absolutely love this city to this day. I was asked to come work the summer camps that year, so I was already experienced with the campus and the basketball program by time I started my freshman year.

At Loyola, we have not had many managers during my tenure. Freshmen year there was a senior, junior and then freshman Dan Kelleher and I. As freshman we were thrown into the fire right away and that was a great learning experience. Second semester, our senior manager could not travel on all the road trips and our junior manager was busy with running the club tennis team on campus. Sophomore year, Dan and I were named Co-Head Managers, which we still are today. Being a head manager for three years has given me experiences and lessons I will never forget. We had one other student help us my sophomore and junior year. When you only have two managers doing most of the work as managers, the work load is immense but I have enjoyed every minute of it. At the end of my junior year we had a coaching change, a new athletic building open, and our arena renovated. The interest in managing rose dramatically. Right now we have a total of five other students signed on to help this year.

As a manager, we have basic duties. Practice set up, helping out with drills, filming practice, filming games, setting up for games, traveling, and travel coordinating are just some of our duties at Loyola. Dan and I go on every road trip and we are at every single practice with many hours put in before and after. We also help with recruiting visits and film exchange.

My ultimate goal is to be working in the front office of a professional basketball team or working in an athletic department at a university. I am a sports management and marketing major, so I am very interested in the business aspect of sports. Coaching is something that also has me interested in as a possible future. I really just want to stay around sports and if it involves working with basketball, that would be icing on the cake.

I think became such a successful manager is because of my dedication to the job. I always say being a manager is the best job any college student could have. The experiences you have are unforgettable but I was able to get those experiences by working hard. Always being available to coaches and players is also going to make you a great manager because you earn their trust. Having great director of operations and assistants and head coaches also helps you become as successful as you can because they are always there to push you and help you out in any way they can. Coach Jim Whitesell welcomed me to the Loyola family with open arms my freshman year and that really helped me adjust to college life. Coaches like Steve Groothuis, Pat Baldwin, Kevin Mondro, Bill Comar, Adam DeMong, Lou Chapman, and Pat Monaghan helped me become the manager and person I am today. Although none of these are at Loyola anymore, they are all at different places being the great coaches they are and transforming others' lives. Our new coaches have been just as great. Coach Porter Moser came to Dan and I the first night he met the team and told us he would need us to help him out all we could with the new job. We have developed a great relationship already and I can't wait to get this season rolling and growing with the new set of coaches. Coaches Matt Gordon, Rodell Davis, Armon Gates, Jason Gardner, adn Rick Malnatti have been wonderful in helping us this year and making us better managers. We are learning even more now with a new group of people. I am really looking forward to this year.

I have worked at a couple different summer camps during my college years. I have worked all of the Loyola camps. I had an internship in the Summer of 2010 with the National Basketball Academy in Cleveland, where I worked at multiple Cleveland Cavaliers camps, including the JJ Hickson and Jamario Moon basketball camps. I have been contacted to work Quentin Richardson and Dwyane Wade camps but my schedule didn't quite match up well. This past summer I finally had the chance to work with the Dwyane Wade camp in Chicago and it was a wonderful experience.

The best game we have played in while during my time at Loyola was definitely my freshman year when we traveled to Butler in February, and shocked the Bulldogs in Hinkle Fieldhouse and breaking a losing streak we had. Then freshman Jordan Hicks had 23 points for us in his first great game as a Rambler. Despite Matt Howard having over 30 points, freshman John Benkoske played great post defense off the bench and held Howard to a considerably smaller point total while he was on the court. Howard could have easily scored over 40 that game but Benkoske gave a great effort. Senior J.R. Blount also played a great game on both sides of the ball, giving Ronal Nored and Shelvin Mack fits all game. Another notable game was when we beat Georgia in the first round of the NIT in 2009 by 21 points. It was great to beat an SEC team by that big of a margin. Playing at places like Kansas St., Purdue, and Butler are also unforgettable experiences.

If I could give advice to a manager it would be to always work hard and always be available. When you are available, you can be trusted and earn the trust of the whole basketball family. The job is something that must be earned and those who have earned it know exactly what I am talking about. I would also say to be very dedicated and patient. Things aren't always going to go your way, but in the end it will be an unforgettable experience. My last bit of advice is to always have fun. You are experiencing a side of college most students don't, enjoy it and take full advantage of it. It is definitely worth it in the end when you are being honored on senior night!

I can't wait for this season to start and I am looking forward to one last crazy ride!