Adrian Wojnarowski shocked the NBA world when he stepped away from being the league’s preeminent newsbreaker to take over as the general manager of the basketball program at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure. Now, it appears that Woj, was a trendsetter as the league’s preeminent shooter is taking a similar role at his former school.
On Monday, ESPN’s Shams Charania, Woj’s replacement, reported that Steph Curry has accepted an assistant general manager role for the Davidson men’s and women’s basketball programs. Now, as Charania stated, “Curry becomes the first active player in U.S. major professional sports to take an administrative job with an NCAA team.”
Steph Curry to become assistant GM at Davidson
Curry spent three seasons at Davidson, setting the NCAA single-season record for three-pointers as a sophomore while carrying the Wildcats to the Elite Eight. He then went on to become the No. 7 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, a two-time NBA MVP, and a four-time NBA Champion.
After leaving Nike, Curry signed with Under Armour in 2013 and now has his own standalone Curry brand. Davidson is the only team in the country to wear Curry-branded uniforms.
In his role, Curry will “provide guidance to the men’s and women’s teams based on his college and professional experience,” will work with general manager Austin Buntz, a former Under Armour employee, and along with his wife Ayesha and longtime Davidson boosters, will start an eight-figure fund for both the men’s and women’s programs.
It’s hard to imagine that while navigating the NBA season, Curry will have much time to dedicate to this venture at Davidson, but the NBA superstar has plenty of money and a recognizable face befitting a proper figurehead. Davidson last won the Atlantic 10 conference in 2022, Bob McKillop’s final season before handing the program to his son Matt. With this level of NIL funding, Davidson could fashion itself into an NBA pipeline for Under Armour athletes and a dominant force in the A10.
Time will tell if the plan works for the Wildcats, but it’s almost a certainty that Curry won’t be the last NBA player to accept a similar role. Curry is in a unique situation having played for a mid-major program where his money and influence can have an outsized impact, but in the never-ending arms race that is college sports, other programs will likely dive headfirst into this experiment.