The Team Behind the Team: The Student Managers of Auburn Basketball

A lot of behind-the-scenes work goes into getting the Auburn Tigers ready to play. A hard-working group of students makes a difference

It takes a team behind the scenes to help the team on the court succeed / Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What if Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl did not have his whiteboard conveniently handed to him at the beginning of a timeout? What if there was no one to ensure the bench was properly equipped for the game or certain things needed for practice were in place?

These things would be a reality if student managers were not in the picture. Auburn relies on 12 to 15 hard-working students to fill those roles and make sure everything is ready to go.

Among this group is Will Desmarais, a senior from Pike Road, Ala. majoring in business administration. Desmarais is in his fourth season with the program.

Auburn’s managers get an early start on gamedays, showing up to Neville Arena hours before tipoff.

“I’ll typically get here around 8 or 9 in the morning,” Desmarais said. “We’ll have shootaround with the guys. After that we’ll have a good block of time, maybe four or five hours before the game. For us, that’s set up time.”

Desmarais and the rest of the managers are responsible for making sure a lot of things are set up properly for both teams and the game in general.

“We have a whole setup behind the bench with computers and wires and tables and all that fun stuff,” Desmarais said. “Waters, towels, jerseys, uniforms. I work with the athletic trainer to get coolers out behind the benches and make sure the locker rooms are taken care of. Make sure the officials are taken care of, stuff like that.”

An assumption that all managers have an opportunity to catch a breath during the game would be incorrect. The pace picks up and the roles become more immediately significant for some of them.

“We’ll typically have four or five managers behind the bench,” Desmarais said. “You’ll see somebody handing a board to BP (Bruce Pearl). We’ll have someone doing water for the players. We’ll have someone working on stools for timeouts. I’m typically here anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half after the game.”

Working for Pearl has given Desmarais a perspective on the veteran head coach that not many people have had. However, Desmarais confirmed what has been previously said, Pearl is as down-to-earth as head coaches come.