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McNeese’s boom box-carrying student manager Amir ‘Aura’ Khan runs it back in March Madness

By The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The student manager with the highest Q rating in college basketball was back, this time for just one game.

Amir “Aura” Khan turned into a social media star during last year’s March Madness for leading McNeese out of the locker room carrying his giant, yellow, thumping boom box. The exposure from McNeese’s two games in the tournament earned him more than a dozen name, image and likeness deals.

Khan was back on the big stage this week, but his stay was shorter. The 12th-seeded Cowboys were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, losing 78-68 to Vanderbilt.

Khan had planned to be a student manager at N.C. State after former McNeese coach Will Wade left for the Wolfpack after last season. But Khan decided to return to the Cowboys under new coach Bill Armstrong.

“Really just wanted to be back at McNeese,” Khan said in an taped television interview before Cowboys faced Vanderbilt. “Being a manager at McNeese was special to me. And it’s home.”

Khan, 23, is from Lake Charles, Louisiana, and applied for the manager job because of his affinity for Wade, whom he’d cheered for while Wade was coaching LSU.

Khan’s boom box shtick made him a viral sensation, and he became the first known student basketball manager to receive an NIL deal. Endorsements came from Buffalo Wild Wings, TickPick and Insomnia Cookies, among others.

“Amir is Amir, man,” McNeese’s DJ Richards said Wednesday. “It’s funny because I’ll be seeing things on Twitter, and they kind of portray him as someone that he’s not. If you all could ask Amir right now, I’m pretty sure he would be so cool without all the attention, all the things. Everything came to him naturally.”

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Cheryl Reeve steps away from the WNBA grind for a Hall of Fame induction

By The Associated Press
Cheryl Reeve is taking a break from her busy WNBA season to head to Knoxville this weekend and be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She's only the second WNBA coach to enter the Hall of Fame, joining former Houston Comets coach Van Chancellor, who was inducted in 2001. “(I appreciate) the magnitude of this recognition of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the great work that has gone into this institution,” Reeve said. “To walk around and see the history of how much has been done years before I could ever have this opportunity to coach. Grateful to the WNBA because I think there was some consideration given schedule wise.” Reeve will be joined by WNBA greats Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne in this year's class. Parker and Delle Donne also will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame later this year. Other inductees include ESPN broadcaster Doris Burke, Kirkwood Community College coach Kim Muhl, Spanish star Amaya Valdemoro, French great Isabelle Fijalkowski and Clemson's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, Barbara Kennedy-Dixon.
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