Steph Curry's role as Davidson assistant GM will be a fascinating test case

Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry is taking on a unique role in his alma mater's athletic department.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Curry is now the assistant general manager for the Davidson men's and women's basketball teams. He'll serve under former Under Armour exec Austin Buntz, and act in an advisory role for both the men's and women's teams, drawing on his own college experience and his time in the NBA.

Curry becomes the first active athlete to assume an administrative role at a university at any level, and his new job figures to be a fascinating test case for active athletes in these sorts of roles.

While this new position is likely tied to the eight-figure fund Curry and a trio of Davidson boosters are setting up to help fund the basketball programs, it's also entirely possible that he's going to work in recruitment roles and administrative ones as well.

At 36, Curry is coming to the end of his career in the NBA in the next few years, and it's unclear what kind of future he sees for himself in the sport when that comes to a close. However, if things go well with the Wildcats, it's entirely possible that we see him taking on more and more responsibility in the running of that program, and eventually become the general manager.

Curry will also serve as a unique sort of test case for other programs with a history of developing NBA talent. Getting the administrative experience during your playing career at your alma mater is a good way to transition into a front office role when you retire, as you get your steep learning curve out of the way before you're fully in the market. You're learning the role on the fly, at a time when you're still active, so when you retire, you can jump in more quickly.

It's not clear that Curry's move will work, but if it does, we can expect to see more athletes taking on these kinds of roles as a new pipeline into the front office is created.

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