When video surfaced<\/a> of former McNeese State men\u2019s basketball manager Amir \u201cAura\u201d Khan walking through the tunnel, boombox around his neck and going bar-for-bar to Lud Foe\u2019s \u201cIn and Out\u201d to the surprise of his own team, it didn\u2019t just go viral \u2014 it made him the face of every pregame walkout dream.<\/p>\nNow, the student manager turned March Madness darling is bringing that same spark to Raleigh as part of the NC State men\u2019s basketball program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a student manager, nothing different than that,\u201d Khan said. \u201cI take pride in my job, I\u2019m very passionate about it. I take pride in doing whatever I can to help the team win, whether it\u2019s behind the scenes or during game day.\u201d<\/p>\n
A native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Khan grew up five minutes from McNeese\u2019s campus, eventually enrolling without a thought of becoming a manager. That changed when Will Wade was hired as the Cowboys\u2019 head coach in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw Will Wade was hired \u2026 I was so excited that he was coming to town,\u201d Khan said. \u201cI was like, \u2018I have to work with him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t know it then, but that decision would set off a chain of life-changing moments \u2014 and one unforgettable walkout \u2014 that would make \u201cAura\u201d Khan a college basketball sensation.<\/p>\n
The viral clip came during McNeese\u2019s late-season surge, before the Cowboys captured national attention with their NCAA tournament run. As the team filed through the tunnel before its senior night, Khan \u2014 boombox in hand \u2014 belted every lyric while his teammates watched in disbelief.<\/p>\n
When the video hit social media, it spread fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout the day, my friends were telling me, \u2018This account posted it, that account posted it,\u2019\u201d Khan said. \u201cI follow all these pages and keep up with everything they post, so for them to share my video, I thought it was pretty cool but I didn\u2019t think too much of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that changed overnight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I checked my phone, I had like 100 unread texts and several missed calls,\u201d Khan said. \u201cPeople were telling me ESPN and Barstool had posted it. I couldn\u2019t even process it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attention didn\u2019t surprise those who knew him best.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really my mans,\u201d said former McNeese guard Sincere Parker after the Cowboys\u2019 Round of 64 win over Clemson. \u201cHe\u2019s in the gym early every day, getting rebounds. He\u2019s for real. When he said he had Wilt Chamberlain numbers, he really did. Tell \u2018em, boy!\u201d<\/p>\n
Khan\u2019s \u201cAura\u201d brand took on a life of its own, complete with NIL deals from Insomnia Cookies and Buffalo Wild Wings, among others. But fame didn\u2019t change Khan\u2019s focus.<\/p>\n
When Wade accepted NC State\u2019s head coach vacancy in the spring, Khan knew exactly where he wanted to be.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Wade]\u2019s one of the best coaches in college basketball, and I\u2019m just a normal student manager,\u201d Khan said. \u201cBut for those two years, he didn\u2019t make it seem like that. He treats everyone the same. Just like one of the players or one of the staffers, he expects you to do your job as student manager \u2026 for me to be able to continue that at NC State, which has such a passionate fan base, it was just an opportunity that I couldn\u2019t pass.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now in Raleigh, Khan is adjusting to a new campus, a bigger city and a fan base with expectations that match his own. Noah Kyritsis, a fellow student manager and a second-year in business administration, discussed Khan\u2019s work ethic in the midst of that cross-country move.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving to see him try to balance [his transition] and working for a Power [Four] program has been really cool to see,\u201d Kyritsis said. \u201cHe\u2019s definitely inspired me to work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
At McNeese, he helped turn a small program without a single NCAA tournament win into one of the most talked-about teams in college basketball. Now, he sees the same opportunity in Raleigh.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take my job very seriously \u2014 it means a lot to me to be able to work for the team,\u201d Khan said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m ready to die for the NC State Wolfpack. That\u2019s how my mindset is.\u201d<\/p>\n
That pride shows in his approach. Whether it\u2019s the walkouts to \u201cNo Flockin\u201d by Kodak Black or the aggressive closeouts he provides in practice, Khan believes his role can elevate the program\u2019s atmosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll bring the culture and bring the vibes the same way,\u201d Khan said. \u201cYou can definitely expect it to be the same \u2014 maybe even elevated. I\u2019m excited for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
His outlook fits perfectly in a program hungry to return to its winning standard just two years removed from a Final Four appearance.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach Wade\u2019s a winner \u2014 he\u2019s won everywhere he\u2019s gone,\u201d Khan said. \u201cWhy expect anything less than just continuing that? The expectation for coach Wade is always to win the conference and compete for a national championship. He\u2019s done it at every program he\u2019s been, and now he\u2019s going to the best program he\u2019s been.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond Raleigh, Khan\u2019s rise has also highlighted the role of student managers across college basketball \u2014 the unseen and unthanked workers who help programs like Wade\u2019s function. His story, and NIL opportunities, have inspired others in similar positions.<\/p>\n
Khan\u2019s message to the fans is simple:<\/p>\n
\u201cGet ready, because a reckoning is coming.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The glasses. The swagger. The \u201caura.\u201d When video surfaced of former McNeese State men\u2019s basketball manager Amir \u201cAura\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":326590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[1339,1317,1337,1338,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-326589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-basketball","11":"tag-ncaabasketball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115423771632029467","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}