Clinton Prairie graduate and CP basketball standout Bailey Good is now a Senior Boilermaker in the School of Education and manager of a #1 ranked Basketball Team at Purdue University.
By any measure, Good has managed his way to experience life-long memories as a student manager for the top ranked Purdue Boilermaker Basketball team.
- Charter jet flights with the team out of the Purdue University Airport
- Travel plans with the Boilermaker Basketball team to Hawaii, Canada and several other destinations throughout the U.S.
- Relaxed and memorable one-on-one talks with Purdue Coach Matt Painter. Painter has had six Sweet 16 appearances, 14 NCAA Tournament berths, four Big Ten regular season Championships, two Big Ten Tournament titles and an International gold medal on his resume.
- Long car ride with AP men’s #1 College Player of the Year 7’4” Zach Edey
- Intense night-before-the-game basketball matches in the empty vast arenas with other college basketball managers…just for bragging rights and the fun of it.
- Incorporating lessons learned on the Purdue Court to help in his role as Clinton Prairie Student Teacher and Coach toward his lifelong goal of Athletic Director. Good plans to graduate from Purdue University this year with a degree in Education.
A basketball is just a means to all these unique experiences.
Every college team needs managers behind the scenes to support the coach and players. Purdue University has about 17 managers who play a key role setting up and tearing down for games and practices, support players in passing, shooting and other on-court drills, facilitate detailed movement of uniforms, shoes and equipment and supplies to and from games.
Many basketball manager duties have relentless time pressure constraints and require unforgiving attention to detail. Try forgetting someone’s uniform or shoe.
One experience Bailey Good will long remember was a trip to Indianapolis in his car to help 7’4” #1 Ranked College Basketball player Zach Edey. By all means possible, the two Boilermakers tilted, retracted, extended and cramped Zach’s large frame into Good’s car to get him to the Indianapolis Airport from West Lafayette. This was even after Good managed to upgrade the car size by borrowing his parent’s larger vehicle for the 68 mile trek. Zach may have even put his feet under the windshield up on the dash to fit in but that is between Bailey and his mom who may not have been a fan of shoes on her dash.
Bailey Good shared these experiences and more at a packed Frankfort Rotary Club gathering at Arborwood in Frankfort.
Good was asked about what he has learned through his experiences. One surprise he had was how extensively and painstakingly Coaches prep for each game. Each game plan is a reflection of hours and hours of observation and planning to ensure the best outcome possible.
Good looks forward to his third and last year as a Purdue Basketball Student manager as he continues his career goal as Educator, Coach and Athletic Director.
Good’s lessons learned in the Purdue huddle with top-ranked talent will no doubt help him along his path.
Bailey Good (fourth from right) with fellow managers from other Universities. It is a tradition that managers compete with each other the night before the “Big Game” for bragging rights. Photo Credit: from Bailey Good’s X/Twitter page.