Stephen Curry accepts assistant GM role for Davidson hoops
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry has accepted a role with his alma mater Davidson College as an assistant general manager for the basketball programs, university officials told ESPN.
Curry becomes the first active player in U.S. major professional sports to take an administrative job with an NCAA team.
In his new role, Curry, who played three seasons at Davidson (2006-09), will provide guidance to the men’s and women’s teams based on his college and professional experience.
He’ll work with general manager Austin Buntz, a former Under Armour global sports marketing team member. Curry first signed with Under Armour in 2013 and launched his own Curry Brand as a standalone venture with the company in 2020. He also signed a lifetime contract shoe deal in recent years.
Curry, his wife Ayesha Curry and longtime Davidson College supporters Don, Matt and Erica Berman will also start an eight-figure fund for both the men and women’s programs. Matt Berman, who played soccer for three seasons at Davidson as a member of the 2005 class, will serve as another assistant GM.
“The Davidson experience is top notch,” Curry said in a statement released by the school. “My journey from when I got to Davidson in 2006 to now demonstrated that I had the opportunity to play basketball at the highest level, got a great education, an amazing network through the Davidson alumni and continue to wave the Davidson flag. I want very talented, high character student athletes to have that same experience.”
As a sophomore at Davidson, Curry set the NCAA single-season record for 3-pointers, was named conference player of the year twice and, after his junior year, became the No. 7 overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Warriors.
The future Hall of Famer went on to win two Most Valuable Player awards and four championships with the Warriors and is in his 16th season with the team.
Curry returned to Davidson in 2022 to complete his undergraduate degree as a member of the class of 2010. He was also inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.
In a similar move, retired NFL quarterback Andrew Luck accepted a general manager position at his alma mater Stanford last year.
The first time I laid eyes on Chris Lofton, during a preseason workout at Tennessee, my thoughts mirrored those of the recruiters who so grossly whiffed on him during a legendary career at Mason County High School in Maysville, Kentucky.
Yeah, he could shoot with that slight backward lean, but there was always a “but” mixed in there somewhere.
As Lofton would playfully chide me years later, “Too short. Too slow. Not quick enough. Couldn’t dribble well enough. Couldn’t defend.”
Little did I know at the time that Lofton’s heart and desire for success would make any perceived shortcomings moot, to say nothing of the courage and selflessness that helped make him a legend for Volunteers fans and beyond.
One of the most beloved athletes in University of Tennessee history, Lofton met a brutal situation head on and kicked its butt without ever feeling sorry for himself, and did so as discreetly as possible because he never wanted to become a distraction to his teammates.
It’s been 17 years since Lofton played his senior season at Tennessee after being diagnosed with testicular cancer, and not even his teammates knew all he had to endure to get back on the court with them. His story will be told through the SEC Storied documentary “Volunteer for Life,” which will premiere Monday at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network and be available to stream on ESPN+.
“I just never wanted it to be about me, the focus to be on what I was going through,” Lofton told me soon after his record-setting college career was over following the 2008 season. “My teammates didn’t deserve that. We’d worked too hard, all of us, to get where we were to let my personal struggles maybe bring us down.”
The only person on the team Lofton told of his situation was his roommate on road trips, Jordan Howell. Tennessee’s coaching staff and administration went to great lengths to keep Lofton’s cancer treatments quiet. Very few people knew just how agonizing that summer prior to his senior season was as he underwent surgery and grueling radiation treatments. He lost 20 pounds and spent many nights vomiting violently and tearfully praying on the phone with his parents, Franklin and Kathleen Lofton. They desperately wanted to be around Knoxville more as their only child faced the challenge of his life, but also didn’t want to arouse suspicions that something was amiss.
“If I could have taken the cancer myself, I would have,” Kathleen said.
Lofton was named the SEC Player of the Year as a junior and was featured on the Nov. 21, 2007 cover of Sports Illustrated going into his senior season. The Vols vaulted to No. 1 in the country that season after beating Memphis in a memorable No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup, and while Lofton was a key part of that team, his body simply wouldn’t allow him to be what he was before the cancer treatments.
After averaging 20.8 points and shooting .479 from the field as a junior, he averaged 13.4 points and shot .345 over the first 17 games of his senior year.
Fans and media began to openly question if teams had figured out how to defend Lofton and wondered if he was melting under the pressure of such lofty expectations, especially after he had gotten off to such a slow start that season.
If only they had known.
That’s the beauty of Lofton’s story. He never once said a word, never made excuses and was always front and center whenever media members questioned him about the dip in his numbers.
It was difficult for me after learning of Lofton’s cancer diagnosis earlier that season — and after meeting with him personally and getting my superiors’ blessing at ESPN to keep the story quiet — to hear all the theories about what was wrong with Lofton.
Through it all, he never flinched.
“You’re in a storm, coming out of a storm or getting ready to go into a storm,” Lofton said. “It’s one of the three.”
As I look back on Lofton’s experiences and the way he plowed through it all, there were numerous lessons that stand out.
For one, there are times when we all need help. Even though Lofton’s ordeal was mostly private, he had tremendous support from then-Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, trainer Chad Newman, Tennessee’s entire medical staff, Lofton’s Knoxville-based minister Tim Miller, Howell and then-Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton, among others.
Hamilton was an unsung hero with the way he helped navigate the whole process and keep Lofton’s wishes for privacy at the forefront. Hamilton died Nov. 9, 2023 — he also had cancer. As an example of what Lofton meant to him, Hamilton and his wife, Beth, drove to a Nashville high school to be interviewed for the documentary. Frail and preparing for surgery that he hoped would save his life, Hamilton died less than 3½ months later.
Former Kentucky coach Tubby Smith was skewered for not recruiting Lofton, who led his team to a high school state championship in Kentucky as a junior and a runner-up finish as a senior. Yet Smith was willing to be interviewed to discuss Lofton’s journey, which says a lot about both Lofton and Smith.
Lofton said perhaps the most enduring lesson for him was that we never know why things happen the way they do and, as he said, how God is working in our lives. Lofton’s cancer was detected after he failed a drug test during the 2007 NCAA tournament. Players are picked randomly to be tested after each round. The test revealed high levels of hCG, a hormone that serves as an indicator of pregnancy in women, steroid use or cancer. In this case, it revealed a tumor marker.
One of the first things I heard months later, which proved to be inaccurate, was that Lofton had failed a test because he had used an NCAA-banned supplement. Having covered about 90% of the games Lofton had played in his career and getting to know him and his character, I kept telling myself, “No way.”
I once asked Lofton if he ever wondered what might have happened had he not been selected for that drug test.
“I just know it saved my life,” he said.
I learned a lot from Lofton during that time and afterward as we became friends. He’s the most unassuming and humble star I’ve ever covered.
You see it at his youth camp every summer in Maysville. You see it at public functions when he quietly slides in and out without wanting to be the center of attention. You see it at restaurants when he’s eating with his parents.
Once, when I was with my own family at a restaurant, Lofton and his parents came in. My middle son, Adam, was 7 at the time and a huge Lofton fan, with a poster of the Tennessee star on his bedroom wall. Adam was in the bathroom when Lofton walked into the restaurant. I noticed Lofton head that way soon after. I turned to my wife and said, “Watch this.”
Within a minute, Adam came tearing out of the bathroom screaming, “Dad, Chris Lofton is in the bathroom. Chris Lofton is in the bathroom!” The whole restaurant was laughing. Adam had played in a youth basketball game earlier that day and was still wearing his jersey. I asked him what Lofton said to him, and Adam beamed, “He wanted to know how we did today and if I had fun.”
Who didn’t have fun watching Lofton play, seeing how much joy he brought to so many people, even those outside the orange persuasion? In many ways, he was the face of Tennessee’s resurgence in basketball in the mid 2000s, which can still be felt today.
His No. 5 jersey was retired Jan. 14, 2023, as he joined Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld, Dale Ellis and Allan Houston as the only men’s basketball players in Tennessee history to have their numbers retired.
And while Lofton is best remembered for playing through his cancer diagnosis and treatment, he also was a great player for the Volunteers. He remains the SEC’s all-time leader with 431 3-pointers, and when he graduated in 2008, he was third all-time among NCAA players. I’ve never seen a college shooter at his size (6-foot-2) with his range and the ability to get off a shot no matter how closely he was contested.
It’s impossible to know how much a role his cancer played in derailing his dreams of playing in the NBA. Lofton had a long and prosperous professional career overseas.
One thing I know for sure is that he has never used it as an excuse.
He took on one of life’s hardest blows and kept firing away — sometimes from 35 feet.
Chris Low was an executive producer for the “Volunteer for Life” documentary.
There was a big shakeup in the ESPN High School Basketball Top 25 following the conclusion of the EYBL Scholastic Tournament this past weekend. Link Academy (MO) rose up 12 spots to No. 2 in the nation, following a 4-0 showing at the event. The Lions defeated Arizona Compass, Wasatch Academy, Sunrise Chrisitan and Long Island Lutheran — all ranked opponents — on their way to winning the title. Houston commit Chris Cenac Jr. (2025 ESPN 100 No. 6) was the key to their 74-71 title game victory, with a 22-point, 6-rebound performance.
Dynamic Prep (TX) also moved up three spots this week after winning the Nike Invitational Postseason Tournament. It sealed the title with a dominant 76-51 victory over previous No. 21 Utah Prep.
And, Duncanville (TX) made its Top 25 debut after knocking off previous No. 18 Allen (TX) and Bellaire to capture a 6A State Title in Texas.
See the whole list of top 25 teams below.
Columbus (FL)
Link Academy (MO)
Long Island Luthern (NY)
Brewster Academy (NH)
CIA/Bella Vista (AZ)
Prolific Prep (CA)
Montverde Academy (FL)
IMG Academy (FL)
Wasatch Academy (UT)
Dynamic Prep (TX)
Gonzaga College HS (D.C.)
Paul VI (VA)
Roosevelt (CA)
AZ Compass (AZ)
Wheeler (GA)
Sunrise Christian (KS)
Hoover (AL)
Harvard-Westlake (CA)
Calvary Christian (FL)
Duncanville (TX)
San Antonio Brennan (TX)
Highland School (VA)
Allen (TX)
Utah Prep (UT)
Owasso (OK)
ESPN
Curry, Berman Jump Start Funding for Davidson College Basketball
Alums Will Take Volunteer, Assistant GM Roles
March 10, 2025
NBA all-star Stephen Curry ’10, his wife, Ayesha, and longtime Davidson College supporters Don, Matt ’05 and Erica Berman, are creating an eight-figure fund to support the college’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Stephen Curry ’10
Matt Berman ’05
Erica Berman and Don Berman
The combined gift, to be called the Curry-Berman Fund, will provide a critical start for Davidson’s efforts to compete in a transformed college sports world in which colleges and universities share revenue with players.
Curry and fellow alum Matt Berman also will serve as assistant general managers for Davidson basketball. The college asked them to serve in these advisory roles, investing their time and sharing their experience with both men’s and women’s basketball.
Davidson also has hired Austin Buntz as general manager and assistant athletic director for basketball development. Buntz is a former member of the global basketball sports marketing team at Under Armour and has been on the athletic fundraising team at Davidson since 2021.
Curry, a two-time NBA MVP, said he wants Davidson’s scholar-athletes to be able to compete in the top ranks of college athletics in a landscape where those athletes are compensated for use of their name, image and likeness.
“The Davidson experience is top notch,” Curry said. “My journey from when I got to Davidson in 2006 to now demonstrated that I had the opportunity to play basketball at the highest level, got a great education, an amazing network through the Davidson alumni and continue to wave the Davidson flag. I want very talented, high character student athletes to have that same experience.”
Berman, who played soccer for three years at Davidson and has an ownership stake in the English football club Burnley FC, said Davidson provided a formative experience for him and that he hopes his family’s gift will spark support across the college community.
There are very few places in higher education that can offer demanding academics with elite athletics in the way that Davidson can. Davidson will always be a world-class academic institution, and I am proud to be part of the solution that allows Davidson to remain a place where elite athletes can go to compete at the D1 level AND get a fabulous education.
The new fund will help Davidson, in an upended collegiate landscape, to sustain a central part of its identity and culture, said Davidson College President Doug Hicks ’90.
“For Davidson, providing one of the best athletic programs in the country is an integral part of our identity as one of the nation’s best liberal arts colleges,” Hicks said. “The Currys and Bermans have provided an extraordinary gift, and they will give of their own time and expertise to ensure that we can continue providing an unparalleled educational experience — for our scholar-athletes and for our entire college community.”
Davidson College announced in February that it would opt in to the landmark settlement of a long-running lawsuit against the NCAA that seeks compensation for athletes for endorsements and media appearances, including game broadcast rights. That settlement, once finalized, would allow colleges and universities to compensate athletes for use of their name, image and likeness — revenue that the athletes already can secure from corporate sponsors.
Photo by: Tim Cowie
Chris Clunie ’06, vice president and director of athletics, wrote in a message to the college community last month that the college enters the new sports environment while upholding its commitment to academics, leadership, service and integrity.
Davidson long has stood out in college sports for, among other distinctions, grade point averages and graduation rates among athletes that even edge ahead of the college’s overall figures.
Clunie said basketball remains Davidson’s flagship sport but the benefits of focusing on that game extend further.
“When our basketball programs are successful,” Clunie wrote, “they provide much-needed revenue and exposure to support all our athletics programs and raise the overall visibility of the college.”
Clunie pledged that no other college programming — academic or student life — and no other sport would be cut to fund the revenue sharing for basketball. He wrote that the college would raise additional money.
Curry’s and Berman’s announcement filled in the details for how Davidson will launch that effort. Hicks and Clunie said their aim is to further build capacity for revenue sharing through additional fundraising, an effort to be led by Buntz.
Matt McKillop, men’s basketball head coach, said the Atlantic 10 is going to keep pace with being one of the top basketball-centric conferences in the country and Davidson wants to compete for championships every year.
Programs in the A10 are highly competitive on the court, but equally competitive in how they have attacked the new landscape of college athletics. I am so grateful to both Stephen and Matt, and the demonstration of their love for our program and their trust in our leadership to allow us to work towards being just as competitive.
Gayle Fulks, women’s basketball head coach, said the Curry-Berman gift is transformative.
“We enter this new world of college sports with the ability to compete for championships,” Fulks said. “We are eager to build on this generosity in order for Davidson to continue to match up with the other teams in our conference, and we are grateful to Stephen, Matt and other alums and supporters who have stood shoulder to shoulder with us.”
Curry’s and Berman’s roles as assistant general managers will involve sharing their advice from years in the college and professional sports worlds and helping guide the teams in a collegiate athletic environment that has taken on facets of the pros.
“The goal for this is to invest in the next student athlete that’s coming into Davidson today,” Curry said. “They don’t have to take cuts on what the market says they deserve to be part of the brand of what it means to be a Davidson scholar-athlete with integrity in your academic experience. The commitment to a four-year graduation process provides countless opportunities professionally in sports or as a game changer in life. And that leads into my role as an assistant GM with Matt Berman – our ability to be a resource and a sounding board for the program, but also support each student athlete, to develop personal relationships with each of them to help guide them every step of the way through their Davidson experience.”
Curry’s pro career has drawn sponsorships, most prominently from Under Armour, and he has established his own for-profit companies. His philanthropic efforts, along with his wife, Ayesha, include the Eat.Learn.Play Foundation in Oakland, California, and his Underrated Tour, which provides access and opportunities for amateur golfers on and off the course.
Berman’s father, Don, founded Cardworks, a consumer finance company in which Matt and his sister, Erica, have served as executives. Don Berman and Bob McKillop, former head men’s basketball coach, have a lifelong connection from high school basketball on Long Island. Matt Berman now manages the family’s businesses, including an ownership stake in Burnley FC, an English football club about 30 miles north of Manchester. Erica Berman led the family’s bid to restart Charlotte’s WNBA team.
“This Curry-Berman gift weaves together Davidson’s rare strengths,” Hicks said, “especially the power of community among alums and leaders, to help move the college forward in an uncharted world of college athletics.”
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Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is padding his résumé. Although he will be staying on the court, the four-time NBA champion is also taking on a new role with his alma mater, Davidson College, joining the Wildcats as an assistant general manager, the school announced Monday.
Curry, 36, will return to help revive the mid-major program, which has struggled to break through in the years since Curry played there. Davidson, whose last NCAA appearance was in 2022, has sat near the bottom of the Atlantic 10 conference for the past three seasons under Matt McKillop, son of longtime Wildcats coach Bob McKillop.
By taking the job, Curry will be the first active pro player to also take an administrative role on an NCAA team.
Per Charania, Curry will guide both men’s and women’s players at the school, working alongside Davidson GM Austin Buntz. (Buntz used to work for Under Armour, which has sponsored Curry since 2013, on the global sports marketing team.)
Curry and his wife, alongside other Davidson boosters, will also start an eight-figure fund for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs, per Charania. One of those boosters, Matt Berman, will also join the school as an assistant GM.
After being largely overlooked by major programs, Curry attended Davidson in 2007 and quickly became a must-watch player. Alongside head coach Bob McKillop, Curry led the Wildcats to an Elite Eight appearance in 2008, the third in the program’s history. In 2009, Curry returned for his junior season and ended the year as the NCAA scoring champion, before declaring for the NBA Draft later that year.
Curry returned to Davidson in 2022 to finish his degree in sociology. With the requirement of finishing his degree fulfilled, the Wildcats retired Curry’s No. 30 that year, the first number retired in the program’s history. (Six other players have their jerseys retired, but the numbers are still in circulation.)
In the years after Curry left to join the NBA, Bob McKillop led the Wildcats to five more NCAA tournament appearances, but never made it past the first round. He retired in 2022 — the same year that Davidson retired Curry’s number — and his son Matt, who had been an assistant with the team since 2008, succeeded him.
But the Wildcats have struggled under the younger McKillop. Davidson has had losing A10 conference records for the past three seasons; this season, at 16-15 overall, is the team’s only winning season since Matt McKillop took over.
Now, Davidson and McKillop are turning to Curry to help turn things around. It is unclear how the All-Star guard plans to fit in an administrative job in North Carolina with his NBA schedule, but Curry will likely help with recruiting and building the team — things that, timeline-wise, happen during the NBA offseason.
