Student managers play an important role in the day-to-day operations of the Kansas men’s basketball program, helping with everything from equipment and practice preparation to game-day responsibilities.
And while much of their work happens behind the scenes, the experience can lead to opportunities beyond their time at KU. For former managers Ashton Hopp and Andrew Korta, that meant building careers in college basketball, while current junior manager Simon Everhart plans to take a different path.
Hopp began her journey as a basketball player at the NAIA level. After a year and a half, she decided she didn’t want to play anymore. After working at a KU basketball camp, Hopp had her eyes set on being a women’s basketball manager, but she was rejected. When the men’s staff learned about her experience, however, it gave her the chance to take on the role of manager for the men’s squad.
“I tell people I transferred for basketball experience,” Hopp said. “I ended up leaving with hope I never had.”
During her time at Kansas, which spanned from 2019 to 2021, Hopp said the people around the program in particular helped shape her college experience: “I wasn’t in a sorority, but KU hoops is a family,” she said.
After leaving Kansas, Hopp continued working in basketball operations. She first worked at Ole Miss, where she helped oversee the women’s basketball manager program. She then moved to Arkansas State before eventually returning to Ole Miss as the coordinator of operations for the women’s basketball team. Hopp said her experience at Kansas helped prepare her for those opportunities.
“Kansas set me up for the ability to add value to where I am,” Hopp said.
Hopp also wanted to find a way to help other student managers as they worked toward opportunities beyond college. That led her to create Grow the Game, a nonprofit focused on providing resources and career opportunities for student managers after graduation.
Former Kansas student manager Jayson Mburu, an international student from Nairobi, Kenya, participated in one of the nonprofit’s largest fundraising campaigns. Due to financial difficulties at home, Mburu was unable to continue his education at Kansas and was forced to leave the program. In order to generate $25,000 for Mburu’s tuition, Grow the Game collaborated with a project launched by Andrew Korta, chief student manager of Kansas men’s basketball. Mburu was able to return as a full-time student, reclaim his job as a manager, and keep working toward graduation thanks to the fundraising campaign.
For Korta, the experience at Kansas led to a different career path within the Kansas program. After spending four years as a student manager, Korta now works as the team’s video coordinator.
He originally became interested in a manager role in high school, as he knew he wanted to stay around basketball. His older brother was a manager at Cleveland State, which helped him hear about the opportunity at Kansas. He initially spent much of his time working with equipment before asking to get more involved with video.
“I learned a lot of good things from equipment,” Korta said. “I knew I wanted to coach and work more in video. So, I had to step outside of my comfort zone. I had to go up to the coaches and say I will continue doing my job, but would love to help out with video.”
After gaining video experience during his senior year, Korta stayed at Kansas as a graduate assistant before eventually moving into his current role as video coordinator. He now oversees the team’s visual scouting, works with coaches and players on game video and serves as the go-to man for head coach Bill Self when deciding whether to challenge a referee’s call.
For Korta, being a manager meant giving up parts of a typical college experience because of the time commitment.
“It’s really tough, you can’t go out as much because you have something the next morning, my social life was confined to the most part the people I work with and I was fortunate to have a good group,” he said. “I enjoyed working with them, and I wouldn’t change it for anything and I would go back and do it all over again. However, it is very very different from the next guy’s experience at KU.”
While Hopp and Korta found careers in college basketball after graduation, not every student manager has the same plans.
Simon Everhart, a current junior manager and business major, said the job has been rewarding but (as Korta noted) also comes with a demanding schedule. Although he enjoys working with the team, he is considering a future in finance rather than sports. For students thinking about becoming managers, he said it takes a real commitment to make the experience worthwhile.
“If you have doubts about it, I wouldn’t really give it a shot,” Everhart said. “It is a lot of work. If it is what you really want to do, just work hard at it and the opportunity will be there for you.”
Simon said the experience can be stressful at times, but the rewarding moments make the commitment worthwhile.
“The highs are very high, and the lows aren’t necessarily low, but they can’t be stressful,” he added, “and overall, I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
Even in a career outside of athletics, Everhart knows the experience will continue to benefit him.
“You know, a lot of working here has given me life skills that I can take with me anywhere, at any job,” he said.
The paths taken by Hopp, Korta, and Everhart demonstrate the variety of outcomes that can result from becoming a student manager. The position offers connections, expertise, and abilities that transfer to any job, so that after a student leaves Kansas, the work done behind the scenes will still have an effect.
Simon Everhart
Andrew Korta
Contributed
Contributed