Syracuse's Presutti goes from team manager to teammate

After serving as team manager and walk-on, Jake Presutti is now earning a scholarship as part of the Syracuse hoops squad. Courtesy of SU Athletic Communications

By Zach Berman

During timeouts at a Syracuse basketball game, Jake Presutti is easy to spot. He's in the Orange's huddle in a shooting shirt and shorts with eyes never straying from Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim's eyes. Behind Boeheim in the first row of seats beyond the Syracuse bench are a group of managers. Behind Presutti in the outskirts of the huddle are the Syracuse walk-ons and support staff.

Presutti stands in the huddle, flanked by teammates and coaches and managers, and he can relate with every one of them. This precise moment is a snapshot of Presutti's four years at Syracuse -- showing what he is, what he was and what he hopes to become.

Presutti began at SU as a manager, like the collection of students sitting behind the bench. After a year, Presutti made the team as a walk-on and became one of the players in the outskirts of the huddle. Now Presutti is a scholarship player, albeit one who seldom plays, but one who never strays far from the coaches he hopes to emulate when his eligibility expires.

His Syracuse story started as a high schooler attending Syracuse basketball camp. That is when the native of Belmont, N.Y. -- about two hours and 45 minutes from Syracuse -- fell in love with Boeheim's basketball program. He contacted associate head coach Bernie Fine, Boeheim's assistant of 33 years who runs the summer camps and oversees the managers and walk-ons. Presutti told Fine he wanted to walk on to the team; Fine advised him to come to the summer camp.

"I told him there were no guarantees," Fine said, "but this way I get a chance to see you for the week and have a better idea for a week rather than a one-hour tryout."

Presutti was the MVP of the camp and enrolled at Syracuse in 2004 hoping to walk on. The problem arose when former walk-on Josh Brooks decided to return to the team for the 2004-05 season. There were not enough roster spots, leaving Presutti out of luck. Yet it was important to him to continue to be around the team, so he accepted Fine's offer to become a manager.

During that season -- Presutti's freshman year -- he did not limit his job to the responsibilities of an ordinary freshman manager. Presutti traveled to Syracuse's road game, all on his own dime. He'd hitch rides when available and catch trains when the rides weren't. Whether it was Madison Square Garden or South Bend, Ind., Presutti found a way. He sought friends and family who provided a place to sleep, often times a couch or the floor.

"I told him to be careful," said Presutti's father, Steve Presutti. "I was mainly concerned about safety, hitching rides with people, friends of his. I don't know how he did it. He made arrangements to every game. It was exciting for him, something that he wanted to do."

It was also valuable. Presutti was able to develop relationships with the players on the road trips and earn their trust. His roommate became former Syracuse standout and current Chicago Bulls reserve Demetris Nichols.

"That's where I've become close to the guys," Presutti said. "To sit in the meetings, be around them, you learn a lot. You're seeing guys' preparation on gameday. That all sinks in, you know?"