Scott Swanson
Ravi Patel has always loved basketball, but when he went to Oregon State University in 2005 he wasn’t seriously planning on staying too involved in the sport at the college level.
When he arrived at OSU, in fact, the Beavers were at a low ebb, with three straight losing seasons under Coach Jay John before he was let go early in 2008, after an 0-6 start in the Pac-10.
But Patel had played hoops all his life, including three years at Sweet Home High School, having grown up here after moving from New Jersey at age 2, when his parents Balvant and Lina Patel purchased the Sweet Home Inn.
“I was really into basketball,” he said.
The arrival of Coach Craig Robinson to take over the program at OSU changed things for the Beavers – and for Patel, 26, who has spent the last four years as a student manager for the men’s program, one of eight this year who work with the team.
Before signing on, he had been leading a fairly typical college student’s life – double-majoring in exercise and sport science and enjoying pickup and intramural basketball games with his buddies.
“I met a guy who ended up becoming my friend,” Patel said. “He said, ‘You should try to work for the team. I know somebody who’s leaving.’”
He did apply and got the job, starting in 2009.
It was pretty intense at first, he said, particularly since Robinson was trying to turn things around with the players he had on hand – John’s recruits.
“He had to restructure the program. We had practice at 5 a.m.”
That meant Patel had to be at Gill Coliseum at 4:15 a.m., 45 minutes before practice started, to get the shot clock set up and put out water and towels.
“It was crazy,” he recalled recently. “The whole first season, every day.”
But he stuck it out and things started to get better, both for the team and for his schedule as Robinson started bringing in his own recruits.
“As the years have gone on, he’s taken it a little easier on his guys,” Patel said. Now practice is from 2 to 5 p.m., not 4 a.m. He had to discipline the guys a little more at the beginning.”
The job has its challenges, but there are perqs. Not only has he gotten paid a small salary for his work, but he’s gotten plenty of gear and the trainers eat not just with the basketball players but with “all the athletes,” he said.
Sometimes he has helped with drills during practices – “zig-zag” drills in particular.
“Me and this other guy had basketball experience, so we rebound for the players. We want to get the players as many shots as possible, so we rebound the ball and warm them up.”
Sometimes that meant showing up at Gill at odd hours when a player got in the mood to shoot some hoops.
“There were times when they could call us up whenever and we’d have to go in for an hour and rebound for them,” Patel said. “We have access to Gill, so we’d go in and turn on the lights. I had to do that a bunch of times throughout the years.”
“We’re pretty much with the team the whole time,” he said. “We’re part of the team. We have to go to every shootaround, every practice. When we have two Pac-12 games at home, that’s when I’m the busiest.”
He and other managers show up two hours before tip-off to prepare for games – water, towels, etc. They assist trainers as needed during games, including helping injured players off the court. After the game and during halftime they make sure players have plenty of liquids, powerbars – “whatever the players need.”
They also film practices and take statistics for the coaches, to help them keep track of what players are doing in practice, he said.
He also has helped with recruiting – sending out letters to potential recruits and helping with the scouting process by checking on prospects through Scoutware, an on-line recruiting site. He occasionally helps prepare for recruiting visits, including decorating one visitor’s room with Beaver paraphanalia “so he could see what it would be like.” He also helps Operations Manager Jaimee Kirkpatrick set up the team’s itineraries for road games.
Though he hasn’t traveled much, he has gone on the road a few times with the Beavers.
“We have pretty good relationships with the coaches and players,” he said. “We do everything with the players.”
Because of that, there are restrictions on what he can talk about and he cannot give players a ride anywhere, give them money or buy them anything.
“A lot of my friends ask what’s going on,” he said. “We’re not supposed to tell things to the media.”
Patel said he’s interested in getting into physical therapy after graduating, and working with the team has opened some doors of opportunity in that area. He’s hoping to get recommendations from the coaches he’s worked with.
He said he’d like to work more with athletes than “in a hospital setting.”
“I’d like to go not only into rehabbing athletes but also training,” he said. He’s hoping to work next fall with Bryan Miller, the OSU football program’s strength and conditioning coach.
“I want to shadow him. He and I have a pretty good relationship. I want to get that on my resume.”
Not only that, but he’s learned plenty about the game.
“I feel like I had a good knowledge of basketball coming in, but my knowledge of basketball is a lot better because I watch basketball every day,” he said.
“I’m not the laundry guy. This is team management. I get to see what is going on.”