Mar 22, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; McNeese State Cowboys manager Amir Khan before a second round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Brian Fluharty Imagn Images
Providence, RI
Coach Will Wade, by all accounts, is headed to N.C. State.
Could Wade’s viral student manager also join the Wolfpack next year?
Amir Khan became a viral sensation leading into and during McNeese State’s 2025 NCAA Tournament run, which ended with a round of 32 loss to Purdue on Saturday.
A senior at McNeese and native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, where the university is located, Khan became as recognizable as — if not more recognizable than — any player on Wade’s Cowboys roster.
He earned the nickname “Aura,” walked out with players pregame while carrying a blue and yellow boombox and singing rap music and became the first college basketball manager to sign a name, image and likeness deal.
Khan has been featured by numerous national media outlets and was all over the broadcasts of McNeese’s two NCAA Tournament games. McNeese cheerleaders wore socks with his face on them during the game, and McNeese players have worn “Aura Khan” T-shirts throughout the weekend in Providence.
Mar 22, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; Socks with images of McNeese State Cowboys manager Amir Khan (not pictured) before a second round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images Brian Fluharty Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
But with McNeese’s season ending and Wade set to become N.C. State’s next men’s basketball coach, as confirmed by the News & Observer, what’s next for Khan? Coaches often bring their assistants and other staff with them to new jobs.
“You know, I’ve been so locked in with everything that’s been going on that I’ve haven’t really thought about my future,” Khan told the N&O from McNeese’s locker room on Saturday. “I’m keeping my options open, and I’m gonna take some time over the next few days and think about it.”
Khan isn’t making any decisions yet, but he said he’s receptive to following Wade to his next stop (which, although not official, is more or less confirmed to be Raleigh).
“Yeah, I definitely will keep that option open,” Khan said.
Khan just concluded his second year as a student manager for McNeese State and has been with Wade during both of his seasons at the school. He said the No. 12 seeded Cowboys’ run, which included upsetting No. 5 Clemson, has been amazing.
“McNeese is the hometown school,” Khan said. “I’ve lived in Lake Charles my whole life, and I never could have imagined that we’d be getting a NCAA Tournament win. So that just means a lot. … I still haven’t fully processed everything that’s been going on, but it’s been amazing.”
Mar 22, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; McNeese State Cowboys cheerleaders wear shirts for McNeese State Cowboys manager Amir Khan (not pictured) during the first half of a second round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images Brian Fluharty Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
Khan said he wants to pursue a future in basketball postgrad. He is currently listed as senior at McNeese but said he is currently set to graduate in fall 2025, as opposed to spring 2025. Earning his bachelor’s degree is currently his No. 1 goal, Khan said.
Whether or not Khan is working as a student manager or a graduate assistant next year “would just depend on if I graduate in time,” he said. “If not, I’m more than willing to be a manager for another year. I’ve loved doing this over the last two years, so why not do another year?”
If Khan ultimately winds up at NC State, the program would be getting a manager with Buffalo Wild Wings, TickPick and Insomnia Cookie NIL deals who, in his own words, would “put up Wilt Chamberlain numbers” if the NCAA kept manager stats for rebounding during shoot-arounds and wiping up wet spots on the court.
“He’s a servant leader,” Wade, a former student manager at Clemson, said of Khan earlier this week. “We’re McNeese. We have no scholarship money. This is strictly volunteer. When we got the job, we had no managers. … He volunteered, and he gets there at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning every morning.”
Wade added of Khan: “He’s a great kid, comes from a great family. … He’s just a really, really good person — really low-key outside the viral videos, I guess.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2025 at 4:12 PM.
