The unexpected March Madness star that stole the show in the first round but didn’t even touch the court
What if I told you the star of the first round of the NCAA tournament isn’t a player, but rather a student manager? Sounds crazy, right? Amir ‘Aura’ Khan has put a spotlight on the McNeese basketball program, far beyond what they were doing just on the court Well, meet Amir Khan. The McNeese basketball student manager who has captivated the country during the opening round of March Madness. 12-seed McNeese had one of the biggest upsets of the entire tournament, taking down 5-seed Clemson 69-67 and while that generated the buzz, the star of the show was Khan. It was McNeese’s first NCAA tournament in school history, and it was Khan who was the face of the win. The truTV cameras couldn’t get enough of Khan as they were showing him every chance they got. Due to the NCAA tournament restrictions, Khan wasn’t allowed to sit on the bench with the team, so he was a row back cheering for his Cowboys as they upset the Tigers. Nicknamed ‘Aura’, Khan has become a social media sensation, while collecting his own NIL deals. Not as an athlete or player, but as a student manager. Unprecedented. Khan has deals with huge brands such as Buffalo Wild Wings, TickPick and Insomnia Cookies. The camera found plenty of Khan during McNeese’s historic upset McNeese upset Clemson McNeese got the first upset of the NCAA tournament He is the talk of the tournament so far. Khan gained popularity through a video of him walking out with the team out of the tunnel holding a boom box and rapping along Lud Foe’s ‘In & Out’. “Not only did I know the song but it is one of my favorite songs,” Khan told The Associated Press. “So yeah, I just rapped a few of the lyrics. Some of the players saw that I was rapping it and they just kind of hyped me up telling me, ‘Hey, just keep going, rap for us!’ “We had the camera on us, but that’s usually not a new thing. So yeah, I just I just rapping and having fun with it.” The video now has close to 200k views. March Madness Top Stories Ranking the greatest players in NCAA men’s March Madness history – from Michael Jordan to Magic Johnson ‘This sister is special’ – Stephen A. Smith identifies rising star who can challenge Caitlin Clark’s WNBA dominance NCAA March Madness is bigger and better than the College Football Playoff – the springtime phenomenon is bigger than ever Biggest March Madness upsets in history of NCAA Tournament – top seeds humiliated as small schools enjoy their moment And McNeese is still dancing. The further they go, the bigger star that Khan will become. Khan gave credit to head coach Will Wade for turning around McNeese, after he had been fired from LSU. “(Wade) brought an energy to that team that LSU basketball had never felt,” Khan said. “So whenever I saw that I had a chance to work for him, I had to step in and do it.” Wade has publicly accepted the NC State job which could make for an awkward situation as McNeese advances further into the tournament, knowing Wade will be leaving once they are eliminated. But it’s so far, so good. And for Khan, he has a fan for life out of Wade. “He’s a servant leader in the sense that when I was a manager at Clemson, you’re at a bigger school,” Wade said. “You have scholarship money we can divvy out. We’re McNeese. We have no scholarship money. “This is strictly volunteer. When we got the job, we had no managers, we had nothing.” The Cowboys will continue to dance, with Khan leading the way, How to watch March Madness in the UK *If you click a link in this box we will earn affiliate revenue March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year for basketball fans, with a total of 68 teams battling it out to become the Division 1 college champions. This year UConn have the chance to become only the second team ever to complete a March Madness three-peat, having emerged victorious for the last two years. talkSPORT will have the latest news on the tournament, but for UK basketball fans the way to watch is through Sky Sports. The broadcaster will be showing EVERY March Madness game through their Sky Sports + streaming service. Click here to sign up to a Sky Sports subscription, or read our article on the best Sky Sports deals available now.
What if I told you the star of the first round of the NCAA tournament isn’t a player, but rather a student manager?
Sounds crazy, right?
Well, meet Amir Khan.
The McNeese basketball student manager who has captivated the country during the opening round of March Madness.
12-seed McNeese had one of the biggest upsets of the entire tournament, taking down 5-seed Clemson 69-67 and while that generated the buzz, the star of the show was Khan.
It was McNeese’s first NCAA tournament in school history, and it was Khan who was the face of the win.
The truTV cameras couldn’t get enough of Khan as they were showing him every chance they got.
Due to the NCAA tournament restrictions, Khan wasn’t allowed to sit on the bench with the team, so he was a row back cheering for his Cowboys as they upset the Tigers.
Nicknamed ‘Aura’, Khan has become a social media sensation, while collecting his own NIL deals.
Not as an athlete or player, but as a student manager.
Unprecedented.
Khan has deals with huge brands such as Buffalo Wild Wings, TickPick and Insomnia Cookies.
He is the talk of the tournament so far.
Khan gained popularity through a video of him walking out with the team out of the tunnel holding a boom box and rapping along Lud Foe’s ‘In & Out’.
“Not only did I know the song but it is one of my favorite songs,” Khan told The Associated Press.
“So yeah, I just rapped a few of the lyrics. Some of the players saw that I was rapping it and they just kind of hyped me up telling me, ‘Hey, just keep going, rap for us!’
“We had the camera on us, but that’s usually not a new thing. So yeah, I just I just rapping and having fun with it.”
The video now has close to 200k views.
March Madness Top Stories
Ranking the greatest players in NCAA men’s March Madness history – from Michael Jordan to Magic Johnson
‘This sister is special’ – Stephen A. Smith identifies rising star who can challenge Caitlin Clark’s WNBA dominance
NCAA March Madness is bigger and better than the College Football Playoff – the springtime phenomenon is bigger than ever
Biggest March Madness upsets in history of NCAA Tournament – top seeds humiliated as small schools enjoy their moment
And McNeese is still dancing.
The further they go, the bigger star that Khan will become.
Khan gave credit to head coach Will Wade for turning around McNeese, after he had been fired from LSU.
“(Wade) brought an energy to that team that LSU basketball had never felt,” Khan said.
“So whenever I saw that I had a chance to work for him, I had to step in and do it.”
Wade has publicly accepted the NC State job which could make for an awkward situation as McNeese advances further into the tournament, knowing Wade will be leaving once they are eliminated.
But it’s so far, so good.
And for Khan, he has a fan for life out of Wade.
“He’s a servant leader in the sense that when I was a manager at Clemson, you’re at a bigger school,” Wade said.
“You have scholarship money we can divvy out. We’re McNeese. We have no scholarship money.
“This is strictly volunteer. When we got the job, we had no managers, we had nothing.”
The Cowboys will continue to dance, with Khan leading the way,
How to watch March Madness in the UK
*If you click a link in this box we will earn affiliate revenue
March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year for basketball fans, with a total of 68 teams battling it out to become the Division 1 college champions.
This year UConn have the chance to become only the second team ever to complete a March Madness three-peat, having emerged victorious for the last two years.
talkSPORT will have the latest news on the tournament, but for UK basketball fans the way to watch is through Sky Sports. The broadcaster will be showing EVERY March Madness game through their Sky Sports + streaming service.
Click here to sign up to a Sky Sports subscription, or read our article on the best Sky Sports deals available now.
