Adrian Wojnarowski leaves NBA reporting to become general manager at St. Bonaventure: Why colleges hire GMs

St. Bonaventure Basketball has hired a general managerAnd it’s a familiar name to basketball fans. Adrian Wojnarowski, who changed the way sports are reported as the senior NBA insider for ESPN, announced his departure from the journalism industry Wednesday to take over a key position for his alma mater’s men’s basketball program. As the Bonnies’ general manager, Wojnarowski will help St. Bonaventure on the recruiting trail and navigate the waters of name, image and likeness.

Hiring a general manager has become a new trend for college basketball programs This is the first step toward building full-fledged, NBA-like front offices for college teams across the country.

“This move is significant to furthering the new landscape of college basketball, recruiting and retention in the N.I.L.,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said in a release. “Voj is as connected as anyone in the basketball world and his decades-long network of relationships can help our program remain among the top teams in the Atlantic 10.”

St. Bonaventure joins programs such as Butler, Syracuse, George Washington, Boston College, Arizona and Wyoming that have hired general managers this offseason. Michigan, Charleston and DePaul all have assistant coaches serving as general managers.

Duke may be a front-runner when it hired longtime Nike executive Rachel Baker as its general manager two years ago, but programs like St. John’s and Texas Tech are also far ahead of the pack.

The role of the GM for a college team

So, what does a general manager do? In fact to do?

This can be a little different for everyone.

Building a winning team is the ultimate goal for everyone, but for some, it can feel like the Oakland A’s version of Moneyball. Identifying which players to target from the transfer portal or the high school ranks is valuable. How much to pay them will be important in the salary cap era that seems inevitable Notable House Settlement Agreement.

There is value available in the transfer portal, and general managers can help uncover it with data-driven analysis, an eye on scheme-based matchups and accurate, behind-the-scenes information.

“I look forward to sharing some of the best practices I have learned from the NBA’s most successful franchises and minds with members of our community and am committed to opening doors on a global stage for our players both on and off the court,” Wojnarowski said in a St. Bonaventure release.

Of course, several player-personnel employees in the college basketball ecosystem have been assigned general manager duties but have yet to be given the official title.

This is about to change.