The No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers demolished a helpless Coppin State Eagles team 97-40 on Friday night in Charlottesville. Eight players scored at least six points for Virginia in the game, but the star of the night was a player that took one shot, and it came with one minute remaining in the blowout.
That’s because the player is Virginia’s *team manager*, Grant Kersey. After spending his first two years at Virginia working as just the team manager, Kersey’s gotten to dress in uniform for the team’s home games so far in the 2018-19 seasons. It’s something Virginia head coach Tony Bennett has done in the past with team managers, as he explains here (via NBC29.Com):
“Grant is a great story because he came in as a manager, and our managers are sometimes banging around with our guys, almost semi-practice players. He’s just worked,” says Bennett. “Reward a true servant. I always talk about our managers, they just give, give, give. So when you can reward that and he’s worked hard. He’s a pretty good player, he was a good high school player, he’s quick.”
Kersey made two free throws in the final seconds of Virginia’s 76-57 recent win over George Washington, and on Friday night, he even drained a three-pointer.
The Cavaliers’ team manager/guard smoothly hit a catch-and-shoot three, and the Virginia crowd went bonkers:
.@WhiteMamba_GK20 for THREE!
🔶⚔️🔷 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/pN5UebEP1E— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) November 17, 2018
If Kersey chooses to retire from playing hoops and focus solely on team managing duties, he’d end his college basketball with a 100% field goal percentage, 100% three-point percentage, and 100% free throw percentage.
