MILWAUKEE – Game plans. Watching film. Finding out strengths and weaknesses of your opponent. Hitting open shots.
 
The list of what goes into a basketball game at the NCAA Division I level can be long, just ask any coach.
 
However, just for a minute, think about the things that happen every game that most people probably don't think twice about: The bus. Meals. Hotels. Flights. Organizing practice. Supervising student managers.
 
Let's be honest. That list is probably longer than what goes into the actual game.
 
Meet the people behind the people: the position of Director of Basketball Operations for the Milwaukee men's and women's basketball teams.
 
Nick Lucenti is in his second season with the MKE men. On the women's side, Molly Hanson is now in her fourth season making sure everything goes as planned.
 
So what does it take to be good at the job?
 
Well, for starters, you have to be good at balancing a budget. Which means every expense, from travel to team meals, to supplies, you name it. In addition, let's not forget off the court as well – where you are the contact for players, parents, ticket requests, golf outings, camps, dealing with alumni … did I mention it was a lot?
 
"Organization," is the No. 1 thing Hanson stressed. "I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of this program; from scheduling workouts, planning away trips, communicating with teams, and much more. There are a lot of moving pieces in my job and if one thing drops, things can quickly snowball from there. Knowing where everything is and planning out early helps ensure smooth operations."
 
Lucenti agrees.
 
"Organization would definitely be the number one quality needed for this job," he said. "There are a lot of moving parts that go into a Division I college basketball team. Strong work ethic is another quality that I think someone needs to do this job well. The hours are long, and you have to be ready to go at all times."
 
But that is not the only thing. Part of the job involves working with people. Let's clarify that. Working with lots of people. It starts with the coaching staff and being on the same page with them. From there, the list is long – from calls to hotel front desks, orders with restaurants and caterers, travel agents, administrators from other teams, etc. And that only counts the communications done in-season.
 
"Strong interpersonal skills are important – most of this job involves interacting with people," Hanson said. "It is definitely important to be able to relate to a variety of people and communicate effectively. I often say I am the go-to person for answers. Whether it's questions yielded from our team, coaches, administration, parents, or from a person out in the community, I am the person people come to for an answer. While I don't always have it right away, I do what I can to get it and communicate it."
 
"As the DOBO, I also act as the connector between the staff and the players," Lucenti said. "So, making sure that I communicate between both seamlessly is very important."
 
Let's stop for a minute and take a step back to find out how these two found their way to Milwaukee.
 
Lucenti played at the University of Oregon for Dana Altman as an undergrad during what was the winningest stretch in Oregon basketball history (2010-14). He saw time on the court in the NCAA Tournament each of his final two seasons, and even had an Oregon basketball ticket package named in his honor after the fan favorite graduated (which, for the record, sold out in two minutes for the 2015-16 season based on information found in an official Oregon press release!). Following his playing days, he wanted to stay in the game and began the search for a graduate assistant spot.
 
"I was lucky enough to land at Northwestern, and that is where I was introduced to Coach Baldwin," Lucenti said. "After Coach got the job here at Milwaukee, he interviewed me for this position."
 
Hanson worked as a student manager during her undergrad years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, eventually taking the reigns as head manager under head coach Bobbie Kelsey. She initially met Coach Rechlicz that first year as a manager, when Rechlicz was an assistant at Wisconsin (just prior to her taking the Milwaukee job). As a manager, she worked closely with UW's Director of Operations, Jill Jameson, and realized quickly that this was the next position for her.
 
"During my four years as a manager, I worked hard and made sure I spent as much time in the offices with my coaches as I could, helping with whatever task was needed and building relationships with them," Hanson said. "Just before my graduation in the spring of 2015, the Director of Operations position opened here at Milwaukee and immediately some of my Wisconsin coaches were making calls to Kyle. Shortly after, I came on campus for an interview."
 
For Hanson, it was clearly a perfect fit in her eyes, right from the start.
 
"Because I do not want to get into coaching, I am able to focus entirely on the administrative roles of this job, which is what Kyle was looking for in the position," she said. "And just like that, I am in the middle of my fourth season here and still enjoying all this job has to offer!"
 
With the job comes the normal highs and lows of a basketball season, which may start in late October for actual games, but gets going much sooner than that for the staff.
 
"I am a very competitive person, so just like when I was a player, my highs and lows still come from whether we win or lose," Lucenti said. "After victories the whole group is in a great place, and that makes my job easier. After losses, not only am I upset personally, but so is the rest of the team."
 
For Hanson, the thoughts are similar, but one particular situation stands out. A year ago, the Panthers put together a very solid 20-12 record in the regular season. However, the first stop of the postseason did not go as planned, getting upset in their first game of the Horizon League Tournament.
 
"Following our disappointing loss in the Horizon League Tournament, we felt sure that our season was finished," she recalled. "It was about 10 days actually where we all took a few days off and began to set our focus onto the upcoming spring and summer. Our players were on spring break and some even were vacation across the country. I will never forget it was around 7 p.m. on that Monday night when I got a mass email from the WNIT, not surprising as we were in the pool of consideration (just barely). I actually opened it up to see where one of my good friend's team (JMU) was at because there was no way we thought we were in it. When I scrolled and saw 'Milwaukee', I think I initially shrieked, both out of excitement and terror realizing what was to come and our team's current situation, and instantly called Coach Kyle."
 
The at-large Postseason WNIT bid was a program first and immediately made things, well, a bit interesting for Hanson.
 
"We called a team meeting and light workout for 9 p.m. that evening and I got to work on planning our trip to UNI 36 hours later," she said. "One of the best parts of the whole week was the fact that our team shot around 70% from the floor in our WNIT First Round win at UNI. We then went on to Bloomington, Indiana, where we lost to the eventual champions. It was quite an exciting and somewhat stressful week, but definitely one of the greatest moments of this job."
 
The one thing about the position – it does not come with your standard job description. Things can get a little hectic and crazy and sometimes, bring with it new situations arising that have to be dealt with immediately.
 
Take, for instance, two seasons ago when the Milwaukee women made a deep run in the 2017 WBI. The team hosted a first round game, easily defeating Southern Illinois by a final score of 81-53. That meant road games next … and more wins meant more travel, more plans, more everything.
 
"After we won, we found out we were traveling to Pennsylvania and I was responsible for booking buses, hotel, and team flights to arrive 36 hours later," Hanson said. "Because the team was on spring break and we could be playing another team out on the East Coast if we win, I booked one way flights and hoped for the best."
 
The team then beat Saint Francis, 67-57, which meant another postseason contest four days later … in North Carolina.
 
"Postseason travel is such a funny thing because everything is so last minute (completely opposite of how you plan travel during the season) and your future is unknown, which can be incredibly stressful and difficult to plan," Hanson said. "After we won, we found out later that night we were moving onto Greensboro. I worked all night on our travel plans and team itinerary. That next morning on the bus, I was calling hotels to reserve 15 rooms where we would arrive later that day. Luckily, everything worked out and we ended up spending the day exploring Washington D.C. to split up the drive to North Carolina. We stayed in Greensboro for the week and eventually lost in the WBI Semifinals. Looking back, that week was definitely a crazy challenge but in the end everything turned out just fine."
 
Road trips anywhere can provide problems that arise out of the blue. Throw in a trip over 3,500 miles away across the ocean and you never know what's next. Whether it's what kind of money the team would be using (that would be the £ sterling), or what kind of power adapter was needed (one for 240 volts), the unknown needs to have immediate answers.
 
"This job presents so many different challenges," Lucenti said. "Each day is different, and there is no way of predicting the problems you may encounter. Earlier this season we made a trip to Northern Ireland to play in the Belfast Classic. The preparation leading up to that, specifically figuring out passports, was one of the toughest challenges I have faced."
 
One benefit to the hard work? The travel can be fun despite all of the responsibilities that go along with the tedious tasks of making sure the bus is on time, or making sure that sandwich has "no onions"…
 
Hanson discussed that every season, the program tries to plan a fun trip providing something new for the team. The importance of providing a high-quality experience for the players during their time at Milwaukee is stressed.
 
"We just spent Thanksgiving this year out in San Francisco, which was really cool," Hanson said. "We organized a full 'tourist' day for the team when we were there and actually got to do the Alcatraz Tour. That was something that I have always wanted to explore and it was an amazing and educational experience (besides the rain!)."
 
The schedule sees the team go from coast to coast, season to season, trying to go to areas that the student-athletes may not have experienced before their time on campus.
 
"My first year we traveled to Miami and took the team swimming with the dolphins," she said. "One of the most incredible experiences we were able to have was during our trip to North Dakota this season. We were so excited to bring Jaye Two Bears back to her home state and we were able to visit the Standing Rock Reservation. It was so cool to witness some of their rituals and learn about their reservation. Definitely an experience I will never forget."
 
"Going to Belfast this year was an amazing experience," Lucenti said. "I have been lucky enough to go on a couple of foreign trips through basketball. It is amazing where the game has taken me, and I feel extremely blessed to get to see the world doing what I love."
 
So what lies ahead for these two?
 
Lucenti hopes to continue the steps to move up the ranks and become a coach. Hanson is taking a different approach for now.
 
"I try not to put a deadline on this job or my future because as long as I still enjoy and feel challenged by the job, I will be happy with where I am at," she said.
 
Besides, given the job, that doesn't leave either of them a lot of time to think about it.