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University of Indianapolis surprises basketball student managers with scholarships

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — University of Indianapolis men’s basketball is back on the move behind second-year head coach Paul Corsaro.

The Greyhounds jumped out to a 10-3 start this season, including a recent six-game win streak that propelled the team to the top of Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

The 16 players on Carsaro’s roster are a mix of former central Indiana high school stars, including Warren Central graduate and current leading scorer Jesse Bingham (15.3 points per game), and out-of-state prospects like Cory Miller Jr. (14.0 points per game) and Kendrick Tchoua (12.4 points per game), who have blossomed into top-level Division II talents.

And this time of the year, no program on the rise takes shortcuts.

Film sessions become more dialed in. The details of practice are emphasized from the first whistle to the final horn.

Even with the grunt work behind the scenes demands extra focus.

If you aren’t familiar, a day in the life of a Division II basketball student manager is not made for Instagram.

The three UIndy managers this season carry their title with pride.

“We (team managers) will get here an hour before practice and will start by sweeping the entire court or pulling stuff out for practice,” Greyhounds freshman student manager Colin Carter said. “Start taping (the floor), get towels, get water bottles ready.”

“Once practice begins, Colin will run the clock, and I’ll go out and I’ll rebound,” Greyhounds freshman student manager Ron Roberts said. “Then I’ll be (in defensive drills) on pads, or with towels ready to wipe the floor if I need to.”

This past week the Greyhounds three dedicated student managers made a splash on social media.

During a post-practice meeting at center court, Corsaro summoned his managers to the front of the team.

“It felt like when your teacher calls you to the front of the room when you are in trouble, I am racking my brain trying to figure out what I screwed up,” Roberts said. “Did I forget to fill up some water, did I not fold the towels properly?”

It turns out the managers did everything too well that day, and in totality, this season.

The ensuing moment was college basketball gold.

Corsaro revealed the news he previously shared that day behind closed doors with his players: The Greyhounds student managers are being put on scholarship for the remainder of the semester.

The scene that followed was 16 players mobbing a stunned Roberts and Carter.

Joey Mesenbrink, the student manager who handles team videography on social media, was not able to attend practice and found out separately.

His reaction? The same. Priceless.

“Just being brought in to be the videographer for this team, it was kind of just, shock,” Mesenbrink said. “Just, really unexpected. Something that I totally wasn’t expecting.”

“I have never seen anything like this ever before and for it to happen was just incredible,” Carter said. “It is great to be able to be here, to have this experience, and this opportunity.”

“It was an unbelievable moment,” Roberts said. “It was a moment I’ll never forget.”

What the Greyhounds walk away with for the remainder of 2022 is a season-changing “thank you” directly to college basketball’s most thankless position.

“I think it says a lot about our team,” Corsaro said. “We have guys with big hearts. And it is about more than just basketball to them, they value people. To make a difference in somebody else’s life, there is nothing better than that.”

We will see highlight assists from the Greyhounds throughout the winter, but not one that will top this.