To the average fan, a manager for the men's basketball team is someone who takes orders from head coach Bo Ryan, someone who does the team's laundry, someone who wipes up players' sweat. But to the players, coaches-and even the managers themselves-they are just as much a part of the successful Badger program as anyone else.
While on the outside, managers look like the bottom-feeders in the social order of the basketball world, the managers regard the situation as more of a family-and they are not the family butler; they are more like the kid brother.
\A misconception that a lot of people have is that, since we're the managers, we're on the bottom of everything,"" junior manager Mike Gard said. ""But I think it's more of a big family atmosphere here where we get along with everyone very well. We get along with the players and the coaches, and it's just been an amazing experience.""
Both Gard and senior manager Derek Detert have been with the team for three years and to them, that is exactly what they have been-not just managers, but part of the team.
""You tell someone you're a manager and they tend to think that you're just kind of below everyone else,"" Detert said. ""In some ways we are because we have to do some things that nobody else wants to do. But we're part of a program, part of a team, and that's the best thing about it.""
Sure, the managers do put in a lot of grunt work in any given week. With approximately 15 managers working for the team, they split up a variety duties, but they all have to put in a significant amount of time each and every week.
At least four to six managers have to be on hand at practice every day to chart possessions and keep track of statistics, among other things.
""They pretty much make the practices run. They're in charge of saying when we've got to do certain drills and how many balls to have in certain areas,"" junior forward Ray Nixon said. ""They help practice run a lot smoother. It would be hectic without managers.""
On game days, 10 to 15 of the managers must be on hand, not only during the game to set out stools during timeouts, monitor ball boys and hand out water and towels behind the bench but also to set up before the game.
In addition, off the court, each manager has office hours once or twice a week with the coaches, helping them with whatever they may need to get done.
""They spend a lot of time here. Not only are they on the court but they're required to spend so much time in the office each week, on top of being a full-time student,"" senior forward Mike Wilkinson said. ""It's a big time requirement that a lot of people don't understand. They do a great job balancing their time and they just love to be a part of everything.""
The job does have its perks. Stick around and put your time in and you may get a chance to travel with the team on road trips. Three managers usually take to the road with the team, giving them the opportunity to see new cities, campuses and arenas that they might not otherwise have a chance to see.
Many of the managers hope to use their position as manager as a springboard to something bigger, such as coaching. So while it seems like a lot of dirty work, the managers see it as just ""putting in their time"" until they move on to bigger and better things. And what better team to do it with than Ryan and the Badgers?
""When people ask me if I like it, I tell them that it's probably the best thing that I've done in college so far,"" Gard said. ""It's an opportunity to be around the team and learn from such a great coaching staff. I've learned so many things here that I never even dreamed of during my playing days.""
Gard and Detert, like many of the other managers, traded in their basketball shoes for clipboards for the chance to be manager at Wisconsin.
Then again, every once in a while there comes a situation-like this year-when a manager might get the chance to come out of retirement.
See: Tanner Bronson. But Gard is not counting on that.
""I think the majority of us know our playing days are done,"" he said. ""I played a year of college basketball before I transferred here. I didn't come here expecting to pick up a walk-on spot or anything. It's more about coming here to be part of a successful program,"" Detert said.
And that one thing is for sure: Everyone from head coach to manager is part of the reason why the Badgers are ranked No. 19 right now. And while Gard and Deter may not be household names to people in Wisconsin, they deserve just as much credit for the Badgers' success as Ryan and Wilkinson.
