They’re the guys who do dirty work

DENVER – You can see them at every game, sitting at the end of the bench, ties on, clipboards and folding stools at the ready.

But any basketball team manager is more than just the person who sets up the seats for players to sit on during timeouts.

“My top job is equipment, handling the laundry, passing out all their gear, doing all that kind of stuff,” said Mitch Reaves, who along with Marlon Stewart are Washington State’s head student managers. “I also deal with one of our recruiting databases, helping Marlin out with any video stuff he needs. … And then, you know, normal practice stuff.”

Stewart has been with the Cougars as long as Tony Bennett has been with the program – five years. Reaves has been with the team for four.

“Managers have a special place in my heart because they do all the dirty work,” Bennett said, before speaking directly about Stewart and Reaves. “They are students of the game. They want to be coaches. It’s neat when you have guys who really want to learn the game.

“We have those (five) principles in our program, and you talk about a servant. They embody a servant and humility more than anybody else.”

Stewart, who earned his degree in sports management this winter, has morphed into the video expert for WSU during his five years managing, something that surprised him.

“The most I knew about electronics was video games,” said Stewart, who played basketball until his junior year at Mercer Island High. “I knew nothing about computers or editing systems or anything like that. I just saw an opportunity to get more responsibility.”

But video should only be part of his future, as Stewart wants to coach basketball in the future.

“The education, ‘basketball-wise’ from the coaches, I couldn’t put a price on it,” he said.

Coaching is also a goal of Reaves, who already has a sports management degree and is working on an English degree.

“Maybe I’ll end up coaching on the high school level,” said Reaves, who was a basketball starter for three years at River Ridge High in Lacey, Wash. “But I would like to give the college level a shot. It doesn’t really matter … I just want to be able to impact people’s lives.”

The managers’ hours are long and the recompense is low, but both feel it has been worth it.

“The first thing they told us when we showed up as managers five years ago is you get out of this what you put into it,” Stewart said. “That’s really come true.”

Bouncing back

Notre Dame’s shooting guard Kyle McAlarney missed most of last season after being expelled from the school following a drug arrest. Unable to play and unsure whether he wanted to return to the Irish, he watched them lose in the NCAA first round to Winthrop.

“It was very tough to watch this team get bounced out in the first round knowing that, if I was there, I could have helped them a lot,” the junior said. “It was a tough time.”

McAlarney admits he was about 99 percent sure he wasn’t coming back to South Bend, Ind., but changed his mind when Notre Dame coach Mike Brey visited McAlarney’s home in Paulsboro, N.J.

“If he can come and set his emotions aside and stick his neck out for one of his players …” McAlarney said. “I just felt like if I set my emotions aside, (it was) the best decision for my future.”

Not only has he shined on the court – converting 44.7 percent of his 237 3-pointers and averaging 15.2 points per game – but off it as well.

“Looking back now, I’m so much a better person and a better teammate,” he said.

Big matchup

There is one matchup everyone seems to be looking forward to: Notre Dame’s 6-foot-8, 250-pound Luke Harnagody against WSU’s 6-10, 270-pound Aron Baynes down around the basket.

“It should be a big battle inside between him and me,” Harangody said.

“There are definitely going to be a couple collisions. That’s just the way post play is,” Baynes said.

“You just have to set yourself physically down there.”