The biggest breakout star of March Madness so far can't be found playing in it

New York Times

22-03-2025

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Even before coach Will Wade and McNeese became the breakout stars of the first two days of the NCAA Tournament by upsetting 5-seed Clemson in the first round, the Cowboys' hype man was an internet sensation.
Amir Khan, the 22-year-old team manager and aspiring basketball coach nicknamed 'Aura,' sets the vibe for McNeese, with a boombox blaring hip-hop and the confidence of a 12-seed that believes it can beat any team in the country.
'I feel like the tone we're trying to set is to just come out very aggressive,' McNeese guard Javohn Garcia said. 'So I think it translates to the game. The energy from the beginning, you see everybody hyped up. I feel like just from him (Khan) and the music, it starts that.'
Is your bracket busted yet? 😏#BayouBandits | #GeauxPokes pic.twitter.com/fgyL4IA5wr
— McNeese Men's Basketball (@McNeeseMBB) March 20, 2025
The 5-foot-7 Khan has become the bespectacled face of McNeese's moment in the spotlight, and everybody around the program seems to be enjoying his star turn.
'They've absolutely embraced it,' Khan said Saturday. 'And that means a lot to me because from the video originally going viral, it was just me feeding off (of the players') energy. They were kind of hyping me up, and I was just rapping the song. And that's kind of how it's been all year. We definitely have a great relationship. And all of them, they're such chill, humble guys. So it's definitely fun to be a part of that.'
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Khan has been leading McNeese's pregame entrance for the past two seasons, but less than a month ago, before a home game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, it went from his thing to a thing.
'That's who Amir is,' McNeese star Christian Shumate said. 'He's always been the same person and always uplifting everyone around him, super goofy. And that's who he is. He's a funny person. One day it was just a clip of what we do all the time and it caught on.'
Never felt this much hype before a game—easily one of my all-time favorite filming moments😂🔥@McNeeseMBB x #BayouBandits pic.twitter.com/NSqphtjFlP
— 'Who is PJ?' 🎞 (@Phil_UpOnMe) February 24, 2025
Leading the team out of the locker room to a somewhat obscure song called 'In & Out' by Lud Foe (it happens to be one of Khan's favorites) he began rapping along with the players encouraging him.
'I had no idea that was the song we'd be playing, and they had no idea that I knew that song. So it was kind of an amazing moment because it was so genuine,' Khan said.
Phillip Mitchell Jr., McNeese's assistant athletic director for creative media, filmed the scene and two days later posted on his own X account, which has about 2,000 followers. The original post alone now has over 200,0000 views.
Khan's profile went through the roof and kept building as McNeese advanced through the Southland Conference tournament.
Earlier this week, he signed sponsorship deals with Insomnia Cookies, Buffalo Wild Wings and TickPick. 'Good Morning America' was in Providence this weekend for a story on him.
Got to interview the star of the tournament today. pic.twitter.com/TpeSXChhGY
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoATH) March 21, 2025
On Saturday afternoon, after the Cowboys finished media availability and practice, Khan was still at the arena, dribbling a basketball in the corridors and recording a promo for one of his sponsors.
Khan is shy about revealing the value of those NIL deals. It might help pay for college, he said.
'I don't want to get into specifics for sure, but you know, I enjoy the free cookies,' he added.
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Mitchell said all of March 2024, when the Cowboys also won the Southland Conference and made the NCAA Tournament, McNeese had 1.4 million impressions on its men's basketball X account. This year, in the last week, that account had more than 1.5 million impressions and overall was already over 2 million for the month.
'Indescribable,' said Mitchell, who added the notifications overloaded his phone on Thursday.
Khan grew up in Lake Charles, La., not far from the McNeese campus, rooting for the school's teams and, like most Louisianans, LSU. A huge Kobe Bryant fan, Khan's own basketball career never really got off the ground. He didn't play for his middle school or high school, but he loves the game.
'I always go outside and shoot a basketball whenever I can and work on my game,' Khan said. 'I would say I'm a point guard. I feel like I can handle the ball. I can shoot it. I don't know if you can tell by my physical appearance, (I'm) not the best defensively. A little slow.'
'His game? He's nice. He can put a ball in the cup,' Shumate said.
'We played two on two, me and (teammate) DJ (Richards), him and our old manager. I was surprised at first, but he got game,' Garcia said.
Khan said he once dropped 30 points in a McNeese intramural playoff game. It came in a losing effort, but he called it his 'best game.' The senior sports management major wants to pursue a career in basketball as a coach and hopes to catch on as a graduate assistant after he gets his degree.
'He's certainly positioned himself where he can do it and we're going to help him,' Wade said. 'He knows that, we have talked about that openly. So we're going to help him get started on his journey.'
Before the Clemson game, Khan led the team out of the locker room to NBA YoungBoy's 'No Switch.'
ALL THE AURA pic.twitter.com/MnqtI3hjNR
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 20, 2025
The Cowboys' cheerleaders wore socks with images of Khan's face all over them.
McNeese cheerleaders are wearing socks with Amir Khan's face on them.
🎥 @CBSSportsCBB pic.twitter.com/u60byVbBwL https://t.co/RXpIfNd2wz
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 20, 2025
Khan and the Cowboys are trying to maximize their moment by staying true to what got them here.
'I know a lot of people expect us to be talking about it because it's been such a big thing,' Khan said. 'But we just want to keep it the same way it's been.'