In the name of full transparency, I must admit that I was nowhere close to being “the man” at any point during my varsity basketball career. Sure, I got what was certainly a respectable amount of minutes off the bench, but I never really managed to steal the show in any way; my contributions to the team have often been the sort of “dirty work” that nobody would ever think to put in a highlight reel. However, I am now sort of thankful for having experienced what it feels like to exist in this rather nameless state, as it was this time that I spent in relative obscurity that led me to appreciate the brilliance of Fordham Basketball’s managerial staff, being almost preconditioned to notice all the thankless and tireless dirty work that they did. I, through my own experience, was able to recognize that they were truly the team’s unsung heroes, as while all their behind-the-scenes dedication and hard work fundamentally would never be recorded in any scorebook, make any highlight reel or be talked about in any postgame press conference, they were indeed the individuals who made it possible for the program to field a team.
With all this being said, I must say that there was therefore nothing quite as personally uplifting for me as seeing what occurred over these past few weeks as the entire Fordham community rallied around, sang the praises of and supported Fordham Basketball’s managers so as to bestow upon them the highest honor in the managing world: a trip to the Manager Games at the Final Four Fan Fest in Phoenix, a basketball tournament comprised of the eight best managerial staffs in Division I Basketball. And while the full story of this journey into the spotlight is way too complex to recap in succinct manner (it does indeed involve games in a “Fight Club”–esque basketball organization known as the “Underground Basketball League,” a series of hotly-contested public Twitter polls and a GoFundMe campaign of about $7,500), the gist of it all is that the Fordham community was finally able to thank their managers for all that they have done and will do. What occurred was nothing less than a watershed moment in which these underappreciated and unsung heroes finally found themselves at the center of the campus’ social consciousness. Not only did some of the most important figures in the greater Fordham community (Athletic Director Ed Kull, star basketball players like seniors Antrell Charlton and Kyle Rose and WFUV legend Andrew Bogusch, just to name a few) use their influence to rally support for this group of amazing young men, but a plethora of current students, alumni and family members also contributed to ensure that our amazing managers finally received their long overdue recognition as being the best of the best.
Thus, while I certainly do not have as much influence as a Kull or Rose, I too would like to use whatever platform I have here to thank the Fordham Basketball managerial staff, especially their head manager Alex Soumakis (GSB ’24) and their lead managers Alex Usatine (GSB ’25), Charlie Dino (GSB ’26) and Jack Abajian (GSB ’26). It is because of your tireless dedication to this school that I and thousands of other students are willing to pack into a sold-out Rose Hill on a Friday night to scream our hearts out; it is because of all your early mornings and late nights that Fordham is able to trot out a team that I will forever be compelled to root for; and it is because of your class and excellence in everything that you do that make us proud to be Rams.
