Adrian Wojnarowski leaves NBA reporting to become general manager at St. Bonaventure: Why colleges hire GMs

St. Bonaventure basketball has hired a general manager, and it’s a familiar name to basketball fans.  Adrian Wojnarowski, who changed the way sports are reported as the senior NBA insider for ESPN, announced his departure from the journalism industry Wednesday to take the key position for his alma mater’s men’s basketball program. As the Bonnies’ general manager, Wojnarowski will help St. Bonaventure on the recruiting trail and navigate the name, image and likeness waters.

Hiring a general manager has become a new trend for college basketball programs throughout the country and is the first step to building full-fledged, NBA-like front offices for college teams.

“This move is critical to navigate the new landscape of college basketball in NIL, recruiting and retention,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said in a release. “Woj is as connected as anyone in the basketball world and his decades-long network of relationships can only help our program remain among the top teams in the Atlantic 10 going forward.”

St. Bonaventure joins programs like Butler, Syracuse, George Washington, Boston College, Arizona and Wyoming who have hired general managers this offseason. Michigan, Charleston and DePaul all have assistant coaches doubling as general managers. 

Duke may have been the first to put a name on it when it hired long-time Nike executive Rachel Baker as its general manager more than two years ago, but programs like St. John’s and Texas Tech were ahead of the curve, too.

The role of a GM for a college team

So, what does a general manager actually do?

It might be a little different for everybody.

Building a winning team is the end goal for everybody, but for some, it might look like the Oakland A’s version of Moneyball. Identifying which players to target in the transfer portal or from the high school ranks is valuable. How much to pay them will loom large in a salary cap era that feels inevitable after the noteworthy House settlement agreement. 

There are values to be had in the transfer portal, and general managers can help uncover them with data-based analysis, an eye for scheme-based fits and on-point, behind-the-scenes intel. 

“I’m hopeful to share with members of our community some best practices learned from the most successful franchises and minds in the NBA and committed to opening doors globally for our players both on and off the court,” Wojnarowski said in a St. Bonaventure release.

Of course, numerous player-personnel staffers throughout the college basketball ecosystem have been tasked with general manager duties but might not have the official title yet. 

That’s about to change.