McNeese Secures Third-Straight March Madness Bid — and Their Viral Hype Man Is Coming Too
Amir “Aura” Khan, a student manager who has never played a minute for the McNeese Cowboys men’s basketball team, parlayed a boombox video into more than 20 endorsement deals during the 2025 NCAA tournament.
Now he’s returning for a second straight March Madness run when the Cowboys face No. 5 seed Vanderbilt on March 19.
Khan’s job involves rebounding and wiping sweat off the court. Yet his bio on McNeese’s official website describes him as “the most talked-about college basketball manager in the country.”
The story started in February 2025, when Khan went viral after posting a video of himself leading the Cowboys onto the court against Texas A&M–Corpus Christi while playing “In & Out” by Lud Foe on a blue boombox hanging from his neck.
The clip caught fire as McNeese secured a March Madness bid. Cheerleaders started wearing shirts with his face on them. Players wore socks with his face on them.
Then came the money. Khan executed more than 20 endorsement deals during the 2025 tournament run, per Front Office Sports. His partners included Buffalo Wild Wings, TickPick, TurboTax, and Insomnia Cookies.
He has since hired a manager to handle brand interest.
“It feels like a dream and I’m going to wake up one day,” Khan told Front Office Sports this week. “It doesn’t feel real.”
That trajectory — local student manager films something genuine, the internet picks it up, brands come calling within weeks — is the kind of path that barely existed four years ago.
Why Khan’s Story Matters Beyond Basketball
The NCAA’s name, image, and likeness rules took effect in 2021 and were designed with star quarterbacks and lottery-pick point guards in mind.
Khan fits none of those categories. He grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, just a few miles from McNeese’s campus. He’s enrolled as a student. He manages equipment.
The NCAA has never prohibited managers from signing NIL deals, but managers rarely have enough public profile to attract endorsers. Khan is believed to be the first student manager to benefit from tournament NIL deals, per FOS.
Student managers typically receive no compensation, though some can earn scholarships. Khan turned a personality-driven video into a revenue stream that rivals what some mid-major players earn from endorsements.
That gap between his role and his commercial value is what makes his story significant.
His personal favorite deals were a bobblehead made in his likeness and a Topps sports card.
“I collected sports cards as a kid,” Khan said. “To have my own, and it to be for Topps, it’s special. I don’t think there’s anything like that.”
McNeese’s Sustained Success Gives Khan a Second Stage
The Cowboys’ on-court performance has given Khan’s story staying power.
During the 2024-2025 season, McNeese earned a No. 12 seed with a 28-6 record, going 19-1 in Southland Conference play and winning the conference tournament championship under then-coach Will Wade.
The team upset No. 5 seed Clemson in the first round — the school’s first-ever March Madness win. They were eliminated in the Round of 32 by Purdue.
This season, McNeese finished the regular season 28-5, tied with Stephen F. Austin. SFA held a slight edge in conference play at 20-2 compared to McNeese’s 19-3.
But McNeese secured a March Madness bid by upsetting SFA in the Southland Conference Tournament — the school’s third consecutive Southland championship.
The Cowboys drew a No. 12 seed again and will face No. 5 seed Vanderbilt. That third straight conference title means Khan returns for his second straight tournament.
But his year between tournaments wasn’t straightforward. After the 2025 run, he followed coach Wade to NC State.
He re-enrolled there as a sophomore due to credit transfer issues. After a few months, he transferred back to McNeese, where he’ll complete his degree in just a few more semesters.
That detail grounds his story. He’s still a college student figuring things out. He just happens to have a manager fielding calls from national brands while he does it.
“If they kept manager stats for rebounding and wiping up wet spots on the court, I’d put up Wilt Chamberlain numbers,” Khan said, per his McNeese bio.
What Amir ‘Aura’ Khan Is Building Toward
Khan has said he’s interested in a career in sports media or coaching. He hopes to be hired by McNeese as a graduate assistant next year. He’s also open to social media as a potential career path.
“With everything that’s happened over the last year, it’s opened the door [to] being on social media as a career. What that would look like, I don’t know,” Khan said.
The NCAA’s NIL framework doesn’t distinguish between athletes and other team personnel when it comes to endorsement eligibility. Khan’s case tests the outer boundary of who can benefit.
When McNeese takes the floor against Vanderbilt on March 19, the cameras will find Khan again — and whether his second tournament builds on what the first one started will test how far personality-driven NIL deals can go for someone who never plays a minute.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
