The behind-the-scenes Bulls

BOISE — On Saturday night, immediately after UB won the MAC Tournament title in Cleveland, Bulls’ video coordinator Tom Fox was compiling and editing game film of at least three of UB’s potential NCAA Tournament first-round opponents.

Meanwhile, on the drive back to Buffalo, Adam Bauman, the team’s director of basketball operations, was scurrying to get a jumpstart on the logistics associated with the team’s travel arrangements — despite not knowing just yet where they’d end up.

While you won’t find their names on the Bulls’ roster, Fox and Bauman have roles that are just as critical to the men’s basketball team’s success this season as what the players have done on the court.

They epitomize the “blue collar mentality” the Bulls have embraced all season. They also happen to have two of the more unglamorous positions in college basketball.

UBNow decided to learn a little more about both positions.

As the video coordinator, Fox collects film of every opponent UB faces, then edits it to isolate the game action so that UB’s coaches and players can dissect it and learn more about the other team’s tendencies.

Fox also breaks down film of each team’s key players. For example, in preparation for UB’s matchup against Arizona on Thursday, he compiled a package of several games’ worth of footage on the Wildcats’ top player, Deandre Ayton.

The coaches encourage Fox to offer his input based on what he’s seen. “He’s very smart when it comes to basketball,” says Associate Head Coach Jim Whitesell.

“I probably watch more film than anyone because they don’t have the time to do it, so I feel like I can chime in here and there with little bits and bobs,” says Fox, who has aspirations of becoming a coach.

During each UB game, Fox records and edits footage of every Bulls player. Immediately after the game, he sends each player film of all of their possessions that they can view on their smartphone.

“The other night (in the MAC Tournament), Nick Perkins had a rough night around the rim. Straight after the game he asked me to send him all his missed shots so he could see where he was going wrong,” says Fox, who is in his third season with the Bulls.

Fox got hooked on hoops after watching “Space Jam” — the 1996 live-action/animated sports comedy starring NBA legend Michael Jordan and a cast of Looney Tunes cartoon favorites including Bugs Bunny and Marvin the Martian — as a 6-year-old boy growing up near Manchester, England.

“My grandma got me a basketball hoop for Christmas. My dad put it up. I never played on it. And then ‘Space Jam’ came out and I was obsessed with the movie. As soon as I watched it, I started playing basketball and I quite liked it,” Fox says.

His skill set progressed and he eventually made the roster of England’s under-16 and under-18 national teams.

At age 18, Fox enrolled in IMG Academy, a prep school in Florida, to boost his chances of obtaining a basketball scholarship.

Injuries halted his hoops career, however, so Fox was forced to find another avenue to remain involved with the game. His coach at IMG was close with the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and Fox enrolled there as an undergraduate, serving as a team manager for three years. He was offered the video coordinator position after graduating. When Green Bay’s coach left for another university, Fox began reaching out to other schools to see if they had any opportunities available.

Bauman was one of the people he emailed. “I just shot out an email and, yeah, happy days.” That, by the way, is a phrase Fox mentions frequently in conversation, so much so that his UB teammates have given him the nickname “Happy Days.”

As the video guy, Fox has found himself in some pretty weird places, especially during regular season road games. “In Ohio, they pitched a tent for me because I had to stay outside for that. At St. Bonaventure, I was in the back of a van. I had to sit on a toolbox and I had this computer on a big equipment box. That was interesting. Wherever they put you, you just have to find a way to make it work,” he says matter-of-factly.

Fox is hoping for a doubly happy day Thursday. It’s his 28th birthday. “Just being here, in all honesty, is a treat in itself. It’s one of those things you never forget.”

You’ve heard the phrase “There’s an app for that.” It means there’s a smartphone-based solution for just about any problem that arises. For Bulls basketball, there’s a human for that, and his name is Adam Bauman.

As director of basketball operations, Bauman has the seemingly impossible task of handing just about every facet of the program that doesn’t directly involve X’s and O’s. He’s the guy who, beginning in July, negotiates travel and hotel arrangements for the upcoming season. He’s also in charge of team meals and hotel room assignments on the road, and assists with recruiting materials and scouting film.

On game days, Bauman sits closest to the opposing team’s bench and listens in on their sets, then relays that information to Whitesell.

In a nutshell, his position involves tasks too numerous to fully mention.

“I try not to get stressed out. At my previous job they always called me the angry little man because I was just running around stressed out,” says Bauman, who spent three years as the video coordinator at Mississippi State before being hired by Bulls head coach Nate Oats in 2015. Bauman also had stints at Santa Clara University and Arizona State University. He’s a 2008 graduate of Southern Illinois University.

“In this position, you’re constantly juggling a thousand things and you have to be ultra-organized. If you’re not, then your entire program is a mess,” Bauman says.

As if coordinating all of this during the regular season isn’t challenging enough, these tasks happen in an incredibly compressed timeframe when the team advances to the NCAA Tournament. Case in point: The Bulls didn’t find out until Sunday evening where they were heading, and were on a plane bound for Boise less than 24 hours later.

It’s pure chaos, but Bauman, who like Fox hopes to coach, relishes the opportunity to be part of a team that’s in the Big Dance.

“The most fun part,” he says, “is just being around the guys, especially the group we have this year.”

Fans can follow the team on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. Use the hashtag #UBDancing.