Yonah Dori Profile

Yonah Dori Profile

Not just a basketball player and a fan of the sport, Yonah Dori thinks of himself as a student of the game who sees beauty in its play.

Standing 6 feet 1 inch tall with long arms and a muscular frame, Dori seems born to play a sport. Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised during the reign of hoops legend and Cavaliers draftee LeBron James, basketball has always been Dori’s passion.

“Growing up in Cleveland, it’s pretty easy to like LeBron. LeBron James,” Dori said of his favorite player growing up.

It didn’t start—or end—with James, however. His father ignited the spark inside both Dori and his little sister, Maya, who is now a high school freshman and star point guard on her school’s basketball team. Although Dori’s interest in the sport began before his sister was even born, watching her flourish as a player cultivated his appreciation for women’s basketball. These days, he is an avid fan of not only his sister and of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst women’s basketball team, but also of the Women’s National Basketball Association, which is too often overlooked by sports enthusiasts, in his view. To him, basketball is basketball. Taking this mindset to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Dori hopes that his position as Women’s Basketball Student Manager is a gateway to a higher role that will extend his influence on the game.

Basketball began as a family affair for Dori from the time he exited the womb.

“There are pictures of me watching basketball when I was 1 or 2 with my dad,” Dori said.

His foray into playing the game himself followed not long after.

“I went to local camps and basketball things when I was three or four, and then really started playing in leagues when I was five or six,” Dori recalled.

As he got older, his appreciation for the game matured with him. Although Dori grew up watching one of the greatest athletes to ever play the game, his favorite place to watch basketball wasn’t the Cavaliers’ Quicken Loans Arena—it was his little sister Maya’s gymnasium. In this gym, tiny enough where fans spilled onto the court and only the smallest of feet could sit behind the three-point line without being out-of-bounds, the youngest Dori rose to stardom on her middle school team. By watching her play and improve, the big brother realized that the game he loved did not discriminate—basketball was basketball.

“Before becoming a women’s manager, I actually was pretty into women’s basketball,” Dori said, adding that it’s important for him to show interest in women’s professional sports in case Maya ever pursued a basketball career.

By high school, Dori had acquired a taste for not only the glory of the court, but for learning the ins-and-outs of the industry, as well.

“In high school, I had a project for an entrepreneurship class and looked at the WNBA and women’s athletics,” Dori said, before comparing the league to the NBA. “I think women’s basketball is pretty similar to men’s. People don’t realize it, but it’s really physical.”

This assignment was more than just a school project for him. It was an eye-opening experience for Dori, whose perception of the game began to peer deeper than just flashy dunks and deep-range three-pointers. He had become an analyst; a fan, yet a critic, learning to assess the value of a player by looking out for more than just the numbers they put up on gameday.

“I think who I am as a person analytically, I’m thinking of deeper meanings that aren’t necessarily obvious and how they correlate to sports,” Dori said of his mentality.

Many of these observations Dori makes come from his own understanding of how basketball functions at the most intimate level—insight he’d picked up through his own many years of playing experience. It wasn’t difficult for Dori to realize that this same analytical mindset drives those that pull the strings in the sports world, such as agents, general managers, and coaches. In combination with the positive experiences he had in his high school entrepreneurial classes, his way of thinking led him to seek out a management position at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he committed to pursue a major in sports management. Through persistence and networking, he secured his first position as one of just five student managers for the university’s women’s basketball team.

In his first year on the job, Dori was tasked with performing a variety of simple team duties, such as filling up water bottles, taking care of team equipment, and assisting in drills during practices. He never took issue with his role on the team, however. Like a bench player with only a few minutes of playing time per game, he understands that his role is a part of something bigger and that the part he plays has the potential to evolve.

“I’m doing this manager gig to shadow coaches because I hope to one day become…something with managing, coaching, analytics, scouting, all that stuff,” Dori said of his ambitions. Dori had enjoyed his brief experience with coaching and managing when he had the opportunity to help out on his high school team and his Amateur Athletic Union team.

Although he never grew frustrated with his position as a manager, Dori is quick to admit that he wishes his team had a larger fanbase. Especially as the season went on and his connection to the team grew more passionate, he often found himself frustrated with the number of vacant seats in the crowd. A mere average of 617 people sat in attendance during each home game, according to NCAA.org. In spite of the team’s limited popularity, Dori views being a fan as something to be proud of.

“I feel like there are less fans for the women’s team, so being a fan of it, you really carry an importance,” Dori explained. “You really are an advertisement for women’s basketball instead of just being a fan. So that’s a pretty cool responsibility.”

Being one of these fans, Dori’s admiration for women’s basketball continues to increase. Being both a male manager and fan of women’s basketball, Dori looks to surpass any stigma and inhibitions that a gender divide may traditionally entail.

“Hiding masculinity isn’t really there. In some ways, I feel like it’s even cooler being the women’s manager,” he expressed. He said that women’s managers receive “maybe more individual attention because there’s, like, 15 managers for the men’s team and only five for the women’s team, so you get more attention.”

Although he considers himself to be relatively unbiased, Dori understands that sexism within the sports world is ever-present. He credits prejudice as a potential reason for the disparity of fans between men’s and women’s sports.

“There’s sexism on all social media and everywhere where I think people have these biases that women can’t play, they can’t play like men, they’re not like NBA players, they can’t dunk,” Dori said, referencing the WNBA. “There’s definitely a lot of undertones. Even people who would want to give the WNBA a try and who aren’t sexist still have thoughts created by society that makes them not want to watch.”

Regardless of what the fan turnout might be for the upcoming season, Dori is very much looking forward to the 2018-2019 season of UMass women’s basketball. Coming off a subpar 9-21 overall record in the 2017-2018 season, he believes that a strong group of freshman recruits, improved game from developing players, and a more positive locker room atmosphere can translate to a more fruitful season.

“I think they’re changing their attitude this year,” Dori said. “Last year was a little drama-filled and a little bit more negative. This year, I think they’re trying to have more positive energy.”

No matter how the team performs on the court this upcoming basketball season, Dori is optimistic that year two of being a Sports Management major and a student manager will better his understanding of life in the world of basketball. He has high hopes that each year can be a stepping stone to some place higher up in the organization.

“Even just from being a freshman and being in sports management classes, I have more clarity of what I want to do with management,” Dori said of his first-year experience. “I think my dream job would be a college coach.”