As the University of Miami Men's basketball team prepares for a trip to the Final Four, the team managers are also heading to a tournament of their own in Houston.
Every year in conjunction with the March Madness tournament, the best eight teams of managers compete in the Manager Games Tournament.
University of Miami's managers made the Elite Eight and it's the fans who got them to this point.
Games are normally played in two 20-minute running-clock halves with stoppage in the last two minutes of each half.
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Participation is open to any member of the basketball staff, including the training staff, strength coaches, assistant coaches, graduate assistants, academic coordinators and equipment managers.
"Each round our canes hoops fans showed out and we dominated each round,” head manager Aydin Melamad said.
Now it's up to the managers to take it from here.
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While the men's basketball team will take on a tough UConn team, the managers have a difficult challenge ahead as well. They will play the defending champion Notre Dame managers and hope to move on to the Final 4 and win it all.
"I'm feeling great, it's a blessing just to be there and support our team in the final four and have our own tournament,” Melamad said.
"Everyone’s been here since the summer we’ve been shooting around before practice after practice, playing each other and pick up so this will just be a dream come true for all of us who just love being around the game of basketball,” head manager Jason Hicks said.
The managers are unpaid and are asking for donations to help pay for flights, hotels and food. You can donate here.
