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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Leave it to the NCAA Tournament and college basketball to produce a viral star — who doesn’t even play in the games.
We saw it with Sister Jean and Loyola Chicago seven years ago, and now McNeese manager Amir “Aura” Khan has become a near-overnight celebrity in American sports thanks to the power of March Madness.
Before Saturday’s game, Kahn was sporting a full-body Under Armour get-up, with his nickname “AURA” emblazoned on the back.
After logging one of the biggest upsets of the first round, No. 12 seed McNeese’s season ended Saturday against No. 4 seed Purdue. The Cowboys’ season ends at 28-7, the greatest campaign in school history.
Even though McNeese is out of the bracket, Khan’s marketing opportunities should extend beyond this weekend.
McNeese staff member Reed Vial told CBS Sports he took 135 calls in the previous two days concerning Khan’s NIL deals, as hundreds of businesses have expressed serious interest in capitalizing on a feel-good story. There’s never been a manager in college sports who earned legitimate money off his name, image and likeness — but that’s precisely what Kahn’s done over the past week. Vial said Kahn’s earnings have easily soared into the six figures.
And though he’s set to graduate from McNeese this fall with a degree in sports management, his time in college basketball isn’t going to be up. Will Wade has agreed to a six-year deal to be the next coach at NC State, he told CBS Sports, and Kahn is expected to join Wade’s staff as a graduate manager later this year. His exact role isn’t known yet.
The expectation is NC State will announce Wade as its next coach on Sunday.
“I haven’t fully thought about it, processed it,” Kahn told CBS Sports. “I think over the next few days, I’m definitely going to think about my future, but I definitely want to be a grad assistant for a college basketball team when I graduate.”
He added he would “definitely” “be open” to following Wade to NC State, and added: “I’ll keep options open, though, for sure.”
Making it more perfect: Vial told CBS Sports that Kahn FaceTimed with NC State folk hero/Final Four star DJ Burns on Friday night.
This is almost certainly not the last we’ll see of Kahn in this tournament. McNeese is likely to be part of the annual Manager Games — a grassroots effort every year at the Final Four wherein team managers play pickup games and advance, just like in the NCAA Tournament. There is also a voting component that could get Kahn and his fellow managers down to San Antonio.
“The way that works is that the first three rounds are voting, but if you get to the Elite Eight, you play,” Kahn said. “They bring you out and the managers actually play. I think right now we’re winning in the votes, and if we get there, definitely I’ll be [in San Antonio].”
Kahn told me his most surreal moment of Saturday was when Spike Lee sat next to him during the first half of McNeese’s game. March Madness has long offered up life-changing opportunities for the players. Now, Kahn’s broken the mold as a manager. He’s the first; something tells me he won’t be the last.
“It’s definitely been crazy,” Kahn said of his quick rise to fame this week. “I think the biggest thing is with the team, first win in March Madness history. The fact that we were able to do that means a lot to us. … As a manager, I never expected any attention, let alone attention nationwide. I appreciate all the support and stuff, but it’s a lot to process fully.”
