Tyler Godwin
Student Sports Media
Being a manager of a Division 1 Basketball team is not an easy thing to do. There are even some people that dream of doing it. Nick Segura is one of the lucky few that were given this opportunity.
Nick Segura is from Wichita, attended Campus High School and is now a manager for the Wichita State Shockers Men’s Basketball team. Segura was always a huge sports nut, participating in football, basketball, and for one year, he was even on the tennis team. Basketball was not always his favorite, being a diehard fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and Duke Blue Devils.
During high school, Segura decided that he was not the best basketball player, but at the same time, he still wanted to stay close to the game. As a result, he decided to become a manager for the boy’s basketball team, which is when he was introduced to Chris Davis, boys’ head basketball coach at Campus High School.
“I didn’t really meet or introduce myself to Coach Davis until junior year, since he moved to Campus my sophomore year,” Segura said, thinking back to his high school years.
Through the two years when Segura was the manager of the team, he created a very close relationship with Coach Davis, making sure to get on his good side.
“During my two years as a manager, I came ready to work and he saw that in me,” Segura said. “We automatically just had a feel for each other, and still to this day have a good relationship. The man has connections. Coach Davis has known one of our assistant coaches here. Coach Linstead used to coach at Sunrise Christian Academy, so he got me in contact with him, who later got me in contact with another coach who’s in charge of the managers. I contacted him, and he then asked me to come and work a summer basketball camp, which was basically my tryout. They got to see that I came to work and that it would pay off later to have me on.”
As one would expect, being a WSU manager, there is always work to be done, even for practice.
“An average day is me showing up at least 30 minutes early, sometimes an hour, making sure all the equipment is out and ready to go,” Segura said. “Some days coach has media in our film room, so we have to make sure everything is running smoothly and prepared for practice.”
Game days are obviously the most tedious of all the work that managers do.
“An average game day commits to a lot of hours,” Segura said. “After my classes I head to the arena to prepare for shoot-around. We make sure all of the equipment is out and ready to go.”
Being a manager is more than just sitting on a bench and getting water for the players when they come off for a break, and every manager has something to do.
“I code play by play in one of our tunnels to break down for Coach Marshall and the rest of the coaching staff,” Segura said. “The other managers are either filming, making sure players have their water and towels or preparing for when the team comes to the locker room. After the game is over, I go and meet with our video coordinator and give them the hard drive.”
To most, this may sound like busy work, but after talking with Segura, he is very proud and is excited about what he gets to be a part of every day.
“To have the opportunity to go work with a Division 1 basketball program is absolutely amazing, and I can’t believe I get to be a part of it every day,” Segura said.
