Lmst

How Serah Williams, Kayleigh Heckel found new home at UConn https://www.rawchili.com/nba/123241/ #AzziFudd #Basketball #CollegeBasketball #Connecticut #CtNews #EliteEight #GampelPavilion #GenoAuriemma #HartfordCourant #KayleighHeckel #LocalNews #ncaa #NCAABasketball #NcaaChampionship #NCAATournament #ncaab #SarahStrong #SerahWilliams #Sports #TransferPortal #UConnHuskies #UconnWomen'sBasketball #UscTrojans #UscWomen'sBasketball #WisconsinBadgers #Women'sBasketball #XlCenter

My bracket is killing it 🤗 🙏

Auburn can be bone-headed—like a teenager who just discovered politics—but when they’re clicking?

Nobody can beat them! NOBODY!

Not Duke with their fancy degrees and haircuts.
Not Florida, who thinks we’ll forget about “Florida Man.”
And forgetabout it Houston 😂

“A 10-0 run in roughly 2 minutes of game clock erased the deficit and tilted the ledger back in #Auburn’s favor. It was part of an 18-2 run by the #Tigers, who rode the wave to a 78-65 victory over the No. 5 seed #Wolverines and a trip to the #EliteEight”

@TheAthletic #MarchMadness #NCAA
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6239535/2025/03/29/mens-ncaa-tournament-sweet-16-roundup-auburn-houston-purdue-tennessee/

#3GoodThings

#Spartans advanced to the #EliteEight .

My feed today is full of #Caturday and #Eclipse pics.

I figured out an extra quality control step I've been doing is no longer necessary, so that will save me some time.

Image Courtesy Jack Abajian

For Fordham students like Jack Abajian, the role of Men’s Basketball student manager comes with a lot of pride. Billing themselves as “The Fastest Stool Crew in the Nation,” the Rams MBB managers do everything they can to help Fordham players and Coaches perform at their best. Along with setting up the stools, catching warmup rebounds, and providing plenty of in-game hype, managers work around the clock before, during, and after games to keep a D-1 ship running smoothly.

“There are certainly a lot of things that go unrecognized and aren’t really talked about as a manager,” Abajian said over the phone. “Obviously, you have [the] basic stuff that people tend to think about; rebounding, doing waters, helping with the workouts. But I’ve been able to be in a role where I’ve been doing a lot more.”

Off the court tasks for Abajian include coordinating post game meal delivery, helping coaches with day to day upkeep, and being on call for specific player needs. While the bulk of a student managers work may go unnoticed by the general public, Abajian confirms that the managers have a close relationship with the team. With Abajian’s first year at Fordham aligning with Keith Urgo’s first year as head coach, the sophomore manager highlighted Urgo’s appreciation for their efforts.

“I haven’t experienced any other head coach, but I know [by] just hearing other people’s experiences that other coaches don’t really interact with their student managers too much. Urgo loves to have conversations with us, make us feel really appreciated, and shout out the things we do.”

By staying at Fordham for summer sessions in 2023, Abajian was able to further strengthen his bond with the team and the other managers. Outside of team activities, Abajian and the other managers have become good friends.

Our @FU_Managers are headed to the Elite 8 !! Could not be more proud of this group of young men and women.
Let’s take care of business in Phoenix !! #ATTITUDE pic.twitter.com/Ik73c43KJj
— Keith Urgo (@KeithUrgo) March 29, 2024

Their cohesion has bred success in another lesser-known part of the student manager’s schedule; the Manager Games. For each game on Fordham’s schedule, Abajian coordinates a behind-closed-doors pickup game with the opposing team’s managers the night before the varsity teams hit the court. Games are 40 minutes long, with a running clock until the final two minutes of the second half. While there are no referees, both teams do their best to call a fair game.

“To be honest, there have been certain games in the past where there have been controversial calls,” Abajian said. “At St. Joe’s, they actually had a guy recording [the game]. We went back at the video and looked at [a play] that basically decided the game for us on a three-point shot. They thought we fouled, but it was clean. That won us the game, which was pretty huge.”

While manager scrimmages have been a college basketball tradition for decades, the formation of Manager Games has given a structure to these behind the scenes contests. Created during the 2014-15 season by former managers of Auburn and Michigan State, Manager Games compiles game scores from around the country to release rankings throughout the season. Following the end of the regular season and conference tournaments, Manager Games creates a 64-team bracket of the top manager teams around the country. The first three rounds of the 2024 Manager Bracket were conducted via Twitter polls, with the final 8 teams getting an invite to Phoenix to play for a championship at the Final Four Fan Fest.

As a 9-seed in this year’s tournament, The Rams outperformed Xavier, Arizona, and Wisconsin respectively en route to the Elite Eight. Abajian cites the increased attention on Fordham basketball, as well as some help on social media from Coach Urgo and Fordham Athletics, as a main reason for their success. As the only Mid-Major school to make it to the Sweet 16, Fordham also received support from other Atlantic 10 programs.

WEST SWEET 16
(Expected score as 50% of vote)
9 – Fordham (52%)
12 – Wisconsin (48%)@FU_Managers @BadgerMBBMGRS
— Manager Games (@ManagerGames_) March 25, 2024

“I actually run the Twitter for the Fordham Managers,” Abajian said. “So I’ve gotten to know a few people [by] just seeing their social media presence and [seeing] how connected everyone is.”

On March 28th, the Fordham Managers set up a GoFundMe to finance their travel, stay, and food for the managers games. Shared by other manager teams, Fordham fans, and Rams Athletic Director Ed Kull, the fundraiser hit its $7,500 goal on April 2nd.

Now in Arizona for the Final Four Fan Fest, Abajian and the Fordham Managers set their sights on a Friday afternoon matchup with Iowa State. Abajian confirmed that he and his teammates have done as much scouting as they can on potential matchups, while also doing their best to align their style of play with the Varsity team’s physical identity.

“We definitely aren’t as skilled as other teams are, but we try to just stick together and follow the same values that our team does,” Abajian said. “[We] play hard, as hard as we can, whether that’s diving on the floor for a loose ball, taking a charge, showing love to each other, and just fighting for one another for 40 minutes.”

The 2024 Manager Games Elite Eight will tip off today at 2 PM Eastern. Fordham’s game against Iowa State is projected to start at 4:10 Eastern. According to Abajian, their game will be streamed live on their Instagram @FU_Managers.

Official Bracket – Stay Tuned 🏆🏆@ManagerGames_ pic.twitter.com/x7blHJ1iVS
— Fordham MBB Managers (@FU_Managers) April 4, 2024

https://www.a10talk.com/2024/04/fordham-mbb-managers-take-on-iowa-state-today-in-the-2024-manager-games-elite-eight-2/

#EliteEight #FinalFour #Fordham #FordhamRams #IowaState #Managers

Is this what all #ncaa games are like? Because I should be watching a whole lot more of them if so. 👀

#caitlinclark #angelreese #eliteeight

Class is up on Moodle, Iowa Alumni shirt on, veggies ready for the media time-outs so I can cut them up for tonight's stir fry ... only thing missing is all of my Iowa friends, who of course don't live here. Let's go Hawks!! #NCAAW #EliteEight #Iowa!

Absolute banger of a game going on rn in Dallas #EliteEight #NCState #upset

At Texas-NCSU. Ran out of clean #Hawkeyes gear, so I'm in a Sweet Sixteen T-shirt. Sad about the Beavs, but I like South Carolina for the final, sooooo. And I suspect Dawn Staley (& other Big 18, SEC, Big 12-16 or whatever, etc.) coaches are about to be recruiting some Beavers since these players deserve a much more competitive conference next year. #NCAAW #EliteEight #MarchMadness