I Spoke With Amir 'Aura' Khan

He's the first student manager to get an NIL deal.

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In a stunning loss during the first-round of the men’s March Madness tournament, Clemson was upset by McNeese State, a 12th-ranked university from Lake Charles, Louisiana with just under 7,000 undergraduates.

You would think the upset would be the main point of discussion, but it wasn’t.

Most of the online chatter centered around one of McNeese State’s student managers for the program, Amir ‘Aura’ Khan.

Khan, a senior at the school, is in his second year as one of their student managers. He went viral back in February while rapping the lyrics to "In & Out" by Lud Foe while walking the team out for a game with a boombox around his neck.

After the viral moment, he landed three NIL deals in a week with Buffalo Wild Wings, Insomnia Cookies, and TickPick, making him the first known student manager of a college team to sign an NIL deal.

You can now buy t-shirts with his face on the front and a quote from him on the back.

Of course, things really blew up at the Clemson-McNeese State game on Thursday, where Khan posed with fans before the game, and the team’s cheerleaders wore socks with his face on them.

After McNeese State won, Khan’s star power grew overnight. On Instagram, he had 10,000 followers on Friday morning and has just shy of 71,000 as of writing this.

In the past day, Khan signed additional NIL deals with PSD Underwear, TurboTax, and even has his own Topps trading card.

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I had to reach out to him to understand how he landed the job, what it’s like going viral, and what his dream NIL deal would be.

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Enjoy!

An Interview With Amir “Aura” Khan

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Congrats on the win! How are you feeling?
Thank you! We just won our first-ever NCAA Tournament game, so I feel great!

Let’s back track a bit. Can you tell us how you got the job as the student manager?
When I saw Coach [Will] Wade was coming to McNeese, I knew I had to work for him in any way possible.

My friend sent me a Twitter post that the basketball team posted saying they needed managers, so we both reached out, and they brought us in.

Have you always been a big basketball fan?
Definitely. I started watching and playing when I was six and have loved it since.

What’s your favorite part of your job?
Just getting to be around the players, staff, and managers every day. They're all funny and amazing people, so it makes the long work days fun.

Can you tease what song you’ll play on the boom box before today’s game?
We don't decide until we walk out, so I have no clue what it will be.

kobeebyrd

A post shared by @kobeebyrd

What’s your dream NIL deal?
Under Armour.

What’s one aspect of your job that may be surprising to people?
Just the hours we put in. We're usually the first ones in the building and the last ones to leave.

What do you plan on doing after graduating?
Hopefully, I'm able to become a Grad Assistant for a college basketball team.

Is there anything else about your role that you think my readers may want to know?
I appreciate all the support and love I've been receiving from everyone, but I want to make sure all of our managers get the credit they deserve.

Jake Forbes, Mitchell Eder, Jorden Romero, and Landry Donham are elite managers and deserve their shine.

I must ask, who is your favorite musical artist?
Lil Wayne, no question.

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