Led by Matt Cotton ’18, approximately 40 Elon students volunteered at the conference championship tournament held in Greensboro Feb. 28 through March 4.
In the minutes leading up to the Feb. 28 tip-off of the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament, Elon student Matt Cotton ’18 felt both a rush of excitement for what was to come and a sense of pride in what he and a team of fellow students had already accomplished.
Cotton’s two most significant contributions were recruiting nearly 40 Elon students – many of them sport management majors – to volunteer at various tournament events as well as overseeing the tedious task of preparing 40,000 T-shirts for distribution. Yes, 40,000 T-shirts. This involved rolling up thousands upon thousands of shirts to be handed, thrown and launched into the crowd.
The Elon student volunteers were responsible for getting the tournament venue ready as well as handling in-game tasks such as supporting credentialed media members and assisting the conference’s sports communications offices. Additionally, they worked with individual coaches, facilitated the activities of players, coaches, bands and cheerleaders, and assisted the coliseum’s facilities team.
Students also volunteered at the ACC Hoops for Kids event, a free basketball clinic on March 1 that drew hundreds of grade school and middle school students from the Triad region.
For Cotton, a fan of collegiate athletics, the opportunity to work at the ACC women’s tournament lived up to his expectations.
“I would love to work in college athletics because I’ve grown up being around college athletics,” said the Chapel Hill native. “I saw this as an opportunity to get my foot in the door and get a taste of what college athletics is like. Now that I know what it entails, it is something I could see myself doing in the future. It is something I have a passion and a drive for.”
According to Cotton, his ACC supervisors said his tournament internship could transition into a full internship, and so far the indications have been positive.
“I think they were impressed with my work ethic and my recruitment of the volunteers,” he said. “They’ve also told me they liked my ability to multitask and be a leader.”
Cotton said he appreciated the many opportunities – as well as the mentorship – he received from Brad Hecker, director of women’s basketball operations for the Atlantic Coast Conference, and Kelsey Harris ’14, assistant director of women’s basketball operations. The Elon graduate played an instrumental role in connecting Cotton with the conference.
When Harris later contacted Weaver regarding a possible tournament intern, the professor reached out to Cotton, who had networked with Harris during her campus visit.
“When Dr. Weaver offered it, it was an automatic yes,” Cotton said.
“I really enjoyed both parts of the internship,” the student added. “I enjoyed the physical part on the court, but I also enjoyed making sure the fans had a great experience – that they were getting the most of their ACC tournament experience.”
Weaver credited Cotton for serving as a strong liaison between the students and the conference. “It is a testament to him and the other students that they were given a lot of responsibilities and they did them on their own,” Weaver said. “They were helpful, attentive and, most importantly, accountable.”
“Dr. Kim has really embraced the faculty-student interaction element that we enjoy here at Elon,” said Weaver.
For Weaver, this year’s tournament experience builds another level to a “longstanding relationship between Elon and the ACC.”
“Dating back to 2007, the conference and its administrators have treated our students so well, providing them with great attention and mentorship,” Weaver said. “This relationship has provided our students with first-rate opportunities that most, if not all, sport management students would be interested in. The ACC staff and administration have been so great to us.”