\u201cIt has been a steady evolution,” said VandeWettering, a 2015 UW graduate in business management and a native of Kaukauna. \u201cThe more that it has grown, the more that it has become a responsibility in of itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive credit to coach (Greg) Gard and the administration for having the foresight on where this is going and knowing this needs to be the primary focus for somebody to make sure we\u2019re on top of things, staying current and being as forward facing as we can be.”<\/p>\n
VandeWettering will work closely with Gard and his assistants on developing and implementing a recruiting strategy for high school prospects and the transfer portal. He will also be involved in contract negotiations with agents as revenue sharing plays out.<\/p>\n
A necessary program objective within the new college landscape was \u201cto make sure that we were positioned well for the future,” he said, in knowing there are still questions to be answered and \u201cwe\u2019re all just figuring this out on the fly across the industry.”<\/p>\n
In sum, he added, \u201cI will still continue to have my hands in a lot of different areas within the program and be able to have some oversight of some spaces specifically with our roster building and roster construction from year to year.”<\/p>\n
Budgeting his time as a GM has become more critical than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cTruthfully that has been the biggest hurdle,” he conceded.<\/p>\n
General managers have been growing in popularity. Long a staple of professional sports, they now have become invaluable to college head coaches seeking to maximize their resources and personnel in handling recruiting, NIL and diverse other assignments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw it coming,” Gard said. \u201cWe tried to stay either with or ahead of the times. He (VandeWettering) has done a phenomenal job. Obviously in this world of roster composition and acquisition and building a team, he has been right there with us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt we said over a year ago that we were going to need a general manager at some point and time. It\u2019s just a matter of how it all fit together and his knowledge of this place\u00a0\u2014 he has this institutional knowledge\u00a0\u2014 I think is really important here.”<\/p>\n
One of the first college basketball GMs was Rachel Baker, who took over the position for the Duke University men\u2019s team in 2022. Baker worked eight years at Nike and had experience with the NBA and WNBA in marketing and branding.<\/p>\n
Michigan\u2019s Kyle Church and DePaul\u2019s Lavall Jordan are among examples of assistant coaches who also serve as general managers for their respective programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s somebody doing this work at all 18 schools in the Big Ten, whether or not they\u2019ve got the title,” VandeWettering said.<\/p>\n
Related: Wisconsin basketball’s ‘de facto’ GM coordinates LA trip<\/a><\/p>\n ‘A professional sports model’<\/p>\n