Often at the collegiate level, the role of a team manager is to fill up water bottles and wash the uniforms. Those managers values’ typically do not extend much beyond that. That stereotype has been thrown out of the window in the WHS basketball program. The varsity team managers, senior Dylan Singer and junior Graydon Milstein, have grown to become intricate members of the team environment, contributing to morale and competitiveness during practice and games.
Milstein said, “This year has been especially enjoyable for me as a manager. Beyond our duties of functioning practice efficiently, the coaches have had us pick our teams during practice for drills and scrimmages.” This method, Milstein noted, gave an evident boost to competition during practice.
Kakhis and a grey quarter zip isn’t the only thing which makes the Blue Devil manager position on the team so iconic, it’s the personality and effort that both Singer and Milstein have brought to their roles that have contributed to how the job is viewed today.
“ I don’t really know why, but I liked eating pretzels on game days, always two. I liked keeping my outfit consistent, and on senior day, I pulled out the blue polo and white khakis,” commented Singer, whose dedication to keeping things professional is telling of the intention put into the minor parts of his position, like game day outfits.
The senior manager position came into play later in Singer’s high school days. Singer started from the top, explaining that he grew up playing basketball up until junior year where he felt his time as a player had ended. Although his time putting up points was over, Singer still felt he wanted to be a part of the sport he enjoyed, which is when he asked head coach James McKeon to be the team’s manager for the 2024-25 season.
“The first few days as manager were tryouts. I went through the practice and felt that they were to the practices from when I played. I had fun and was meeting new people, so I didn’t have doubts. The team having a successful season also made it a lot of fun,” explained Singer as he went on to make clear why maybe the position fit him best. “I had a lot of fun rebounding, passing and doing all the small stuff usually other people don’t like to do.”
As for a desired legacy, Singer stated, “I think obviously the intention is to leave it better than I found it. I also think I set a standard alongside Milstein for future team managers.” With Singer’s final year in the books, Milstein acknowledged the impact he has left, “I think Singer evolved the position from a team accessory to a team member. He was also given a varsity letter for his role which goes to show his value to the team.”
Alongside the effects the two managers have left on the varsity team, they have grown the position to be highly sought after. Even the junior varsity and freshmen teams had their own managers this year. Milstein joked, “There are so many managers we may even have to have tryouts for next year’s managers.”
Throughout the entire season, the team managers made practice run smoothly, efficiently and far more competitively. Needless to say, Milstein and Singer have shown that the basketball team goes beyond just the people in jerseys.
