03-04-2025
Gophers mens basketball managers heading to the Final Four to compete for Manager Games title
Happening behind closed doors, college basketball teams' managers and staff are playing a parallel season.
These games, at least, start friendly.
"A lot of times, the managers or support staff, they scout the other team," Gophers men's basketball head manager Drew Evenson said. "So sometimes the managers run the same stuff as the actual team. So you're calling stuff out and it turns into more of a competitive thing. And as managers, we wanna win so bad. We'll get chippy every now and then."
The records from this season-long schedule are turned into a bracket, with social media voting determining the Elite Eight that get to play out the postseason.
The Gophers made it and will compete for a title on Friday in San Antonio, where the actual Final Four will be played.
"Each year, you don't really know what to expect, but we felt pretty fortunate with the luck of the draw that we had this year," Evenson said. "We didn't want to jinx it, but we felt like this was our year, as we were one win away the past two years."
Evenson calls himself the glue guy of the managers' playing roster. The graduating senior has come a long way since entering college, battling leukemia.
"This team was a big part of my healing process, I like to think," Evenson said. "Because they gave me something to put my energy and mind towards, a positive team atmosphere. I can never say thank you enough for the stuff this university has done for me. Last year, I had my final treatment and ever since then, it's been amazing."
Minnesota managers are a hot topic lately. Freshly signed new head coach
Niko Medved
was a student manager for the Gophers in the 1990s.
"When you see a former manager, not just at any school, but your own school make it all the way to the head coach at this university, it's pretty special," Evenson said. "Hopefully, one day I can look back and be like, I was a manager here and all that stuff, and maybe have a higher role, maybe have my own team here one day. It's something you can look forward to."
