Hurricane warning: Former JWCC basketball player with front row seat for Final Four as student manager for Miami

QUINCY — Kameron Whiteman and his family were walking around a Kansas City, Mo., business district during last weekend’s Midwest Regional finals when he ducked into a store filled with NCAA Tournament gear.

He found shirts for the Houston, Texas and Xavier men’s basketball programs. 

“They didn’t have any Miami gear,” Whiteman said.

He took note of a similar lack of notoriety for the Hurricanes before the tournament began.

“Down here in South Florida, I don’t think we get the respect that I really think we deserve,” Whiteman said. “I was looking at the ESPN analytics and they were giving us a 3-percent chance to win it all when the tournament began, and now we’re in the Final Four.”

And the former John Wood Community College player is enjoying the ride of a lifetime.

Whiteman is a student manager at Miami and part of the crew making sure no detail gets overlooked in preparation for this weekend’s Final Four. One of the managers headed to Houston early in the week to set up logistics at the hotel and arena, while Whiteman and others have handled the day-to-day duties.

In his case, it meant rebounding for Nijel Pack during a shooting session Monday night and heading back to the arena early Tuesday morning to rebound for Isaiah Wong.

“I’m on standby,” Whiteman said. “If one of the guys wants to go shoot, I go in and rebound for them.”

It’s a 24-7 job, as Whiteman described it.

“Pretty much day in and day out,” Whiteman said. “When I’m not in class, I’m around the office helping anybody and everybody that I can.”

It has heightened his desire to be a college coach.

“Being around these high-level guys and especially making a run and the success we’ve had, of course that’s the case,” Whiteman said. “It’s really just a drug. You just want to get more of it, more of it.”

The itch to coach has always been there.

“My dad knew I wanted to be a coach,” the Lincoln, Ill., product said. “(JWCC coach Brad Hoyt) knew that. Everybody knew that.”

Whiteman played in 24 games as a freshman at John Wood during the 2020-21 season, averaging 5.3 points and shooting 37.3 percent from 3-point range. During the 2021-22 season, he played in 29 games but an issue with his ankle likely meant playing beyond the junior college level would be a chore.

“My dad mentioned the idea of going to Miami,” said Whiteman, whose father, Kirk, played for Miami coach Jim Larranaga at Bowling Green State University in the late 1980s and was part of two NIT teams, making 113 career 3-pointers and shooting 48.9 percent from 3-point range during the 1988-89 season, which ranks second in program history.

“Dad said, ‘I could reach out to him and see if we can get you down there as a manager or something.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that will never happen.’ Dad was like you might as well apply.”

Whiteman applied to the university. His dad made a phone call. And the rest is history.

The Whitemans met with Larranaga, attended a practice and got a tour of the facilities and the campus.

“(Larranaga) was like, ‘Once you get accepted, we’ll have you a manager’s spot. You just have to get accepted first,’” Whiteman said. “I got accepted. After I told him that, he had me scheduled working camps that summer. As soon as I got accepted, it was downhill and rolling after that.”

It’s given him a front row seat to college basketball’s biggest stage.

“Ever since I was a little boy, watching the tournament, watching it at home from the couch, you always dream about being there,” Whiteman said. “Now that I actually have the chance to go there as part of the team, it’s crazy. It’s really surreal.”

He’s not the only one enjoying the moment.

Whiteman’s family was in Kansas City for the regional finals last weekend, as were Hoyt and his son, Jake, as well as former JWCC teammates Brandon Kracht and Jarvis Jennings. Kracht’s family was there, too.

“I was thankful we were in the Midwest so they could come out,” Whiteman said. “John Wood gave me some brothers for life.”