Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 4 | March 2020

10 Inside Hokie Sports On the morning of Dec. 31, most students were enjoying the holidays with family members and friends. Senior marketing major Dylan Forest Wimer rang in the new year a bit differently. On an off-day morning two days following the Hokies’ 55-point win over Maryland Eastern Shore and four days before Tech tipped off conference play against rival Virginia, the fourth-year manager attacked his lengthy to-do list. Laundry needed to get cleaned, coolers needed to be filled, some players wanted to get up shots, and he still wanted to find time to get a lift in for himself. His New Year’s Eve was jam-packed, but he expected this, and his “this-is-part-of-the-job” demeanor showed it. Wimer was born and raised in Staunton, Virginia—the “City of Hills,” or “Queen City,” as he likes to call it. Growing up, he ironically never played a minute of basketball, but took part in baseball and soccer and then ran track throughout high school. In his small town of 24,528 people, he attended private school up until third grade and continued with public school from that point until he received his high school diploma. During his sophomore year, he was approached about being a manager for the Robert E. Lee High School basketball program, one of the state’s best programs and one once led by the winningest coach in Virginia high school history in Paul Hatcher. The iconic coach retired in 2011 after 43 seasons and four state titles, and he passed the torch to his son, Jarrett, during Wimer’s time there. Paul Hatcher, whose son served as his assistant, set a state record of 85 consecutive wins—a record worthy of respect regardless of the level of play. With this background, Wimer knew how a winning program operated and credited his school’s success to the town’s love for the game. “Basketball is just in the veins of Staunton, Virginia,” he said. Although he’s been around a lot of success since high school, his sagacious mother gave him a very insightful perspective on what she thought success truly meant. She told him that, if all he ever became was a respectable, good person, then she would have been a successful mother. People who know Wimer know that whatever granted his parents this mature outlook on life definitely has been passed down to Wimer, who embodies all the traits of an honorable man. She encouraged him to pursue whatever made him happy, and Wimer definitely took advantage of the freedom that his parents gifted him. On top of being a basketball manager for his legendary high school program, he managed high school football for a year, umpired for baseball teams from middle school until his junior year of college, participated in band, and helped the theater crew with sound as well during high school. Becoming a Virginia Tech manager was not in his plans at all during high school. In fact, he knew nothing about the team except that it had a head coach named Buzz. His high school coach had a conversation with Jeff Reynolds, a previous assistant coach for the Hokies, and Wimer’s name came up for the job. Jarrett Hatcher spoke highly of Wimer, and the opportunity to be a part of a rising ACC basketball team presented itself from that phone call. When asked about the process of becoming a manager, Wimer said the process changed with the changing of the staff. When he first arrived, he and other candidates interested in a position needed to email a coach, and then that coach eventually forwarded the email to the director of basketball operations. Once received, the staff invited candidates to assist at summer camps to go under an evaluation process, with hiring based on their performances at those camps. “If you’re not giving good energy to those kids at camp, how could you give good energy to the players?” Wimer said about how they were evaluated. “They wanted to see what your work ethic was.” with Jon Laaser Every Person Has Value by Jonathan Kabongo THE OFFICIAL KIDS’ CLUB OF VIRGINIA TECH ATHLETICS 2 PLANS TO CHOOSE FROM ORANGE LEVEL: FREE MAROON LEVEL: $35 Visit hokiesports.com/hokiekidsclub to join! Greetings, Hokies! One of the most gratifying aspects of my role here at Virginia Tech is having the chance to work with extremely gifted young people, particularly as they spend a portion of their lives discovering their full potential. Sure, all are athletically talented, but I really enjoy watching them discover the diversity of their talents away from athletics competition. I met Jonathan Kabongo two years ago, and I easily found him to be blessed with many talents. Obviously, a gifted basketball player, but already an accomplished musician as well. As I got to know him, I found myself struck with how eagerly he wanted to learn about my profession, particularly the creative writing aspect of it. Jonathan missed this season because of an injury, but to his credit, he refused to sit idle while unable to compete. I enjoyed using him in our coverage this season and have delighted as he conducted postgame interviews, conceptualized ideas for social content, and worked on writing projects. He never fails to display an enthusiastic attitude, which I find infectious to the people around him—including me. So, I am very proud to be able to share my column space with Jonathan in this issue. I know you will immediately recognize his writing talent and enjoy his essay about Forest Wimer and the Virginia Tech basketball managers. Enjoy! Jon Laaser