CHARLOTTE, N.C. — By now, the handshake seen ‘round the world — or at least by 1.6 million Instagram users — has more than cluttered Michael Rubin’s DMs.
“The Instagram’s been blowing up a little bit,” said Rubin, a student manager for first-year Florida State men’s basketball coach Luke Loucks. “It’s crazy how sports can change lives.”
And not just for the players on the court.
This season for the first time, college basketball coaches are allowed to challenge plays, and most have delegated that role to well-compensated analytics or video staffers. In FSU’s case, that job instead falls to Rubin — a bespectacled student manager whom Loucks called a “borderline genius” — and assistant director of basketball ops Ryan Shnider, one of the few holdovers from previous coach Leonard Hamilton.
As you might expect, the spotlight usually isn’t trained a few rows behind team benches, on managers hunched over iPads and laptops, but it was on Wednesday, during FSU’s ACC tournament win over Cal. Only, though, because Rubin recommended Loucks challenge a particular call that FSU ultimately won.
Which is when Rubin and fellow manager Aidan Frein — who has the “best mustache in the ACC,” Rubin says — celebrated with a signature handshake that has now gone viral.
A few slaps, a peek down at an imaginary computer, then the universal signal for reviewing a controversial call: a spinning finger in the air.
Told coach to challenge the play and got it right 😂 🔥 @FSUHoops pic.twitter.com/F5bpT2dok7
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) March 12, 2026
“Coach loves talking about how I’m one with the computer,” Rubin said, smiling behind a pair of translucent glasses. “Basically, we’ll kind of be looking there, give the signal — and it can make or break a game.”
With Rubin and Shnider on the case, FSU’s challenges are working out in the Seminoles’ favor more often than not. After two more successful challenges in an 80-79 loss to Duke on Thursday, Florida State finished the season 11-4 on reviews, regularly earning (much-needed) extra possessions.
That’s remarkable success on decisions that have to be made in 10-15 seconds max — and with your boss anxiously waiting, right in your face.
“He’s a student manager with, like, real responsibility in games — which is probably a little bit baffling for me to give him that responsibility,” Loucks said of Rubin. “But he earned it.”
Effectively, Rubin and Shnider work as a two-man decision-making team in real-time. Rubin has a specific feed that goes straight to his computer during games, allowing him to code as the game goes on. Shnider, next to him, has every play fed straight into his iPad, allowing him to zoom in more aggressively on narrow out-of-bounds calls. Then, it’s a simple majority rule … typically.
If both agree to challenge, they give Loucks the signal. If one or the other doesn’t, which happens, then they’ll typically abstain, with any negotiations having to be quick. (Loucks does his best to give the two a few extra seconds to think — by sending someone to the scorer’s table, or having a player conveniently need to tie his shoe — and officials have been increasingly patient this season about giving coaches time to consider their reviews.)
Shnider is the more aggressive of the two, while Rubin — again, a college kid giving consequential advice to one of the university’s most prominent, well-paid employees — plays things more on the safe side. It’s a good balance.
It also helps, the two say, that Loucks has an acute understanding of their situation. The former FSU guard’s first job in coaching was a paid internship with the Golden State Warriors, where he did plenty of film work.
“Because he’s been in those shoes,” Shnider said, “he takes what we say and he will do whatever pretty much we advise him to.”
(Unless, as has happened a few times this season, the Seminoles’ players are so convinced a call should be overturned that Loucks never turns around, unilaterally making the call.)
Loucks’ understanding of the position — and the pressure that comes with it — is part of the reason Rubin and Shnider have been so successful. In FSU’s second game this season, against South Alabama, Rubin told Loucks to challenge a call for the first time, and lost. One of the game’s referees even came up to Rubin and jokingly shut his laptop, asking why the student manager was challenging his calls. “I was kind of in my head,” Rubin said. “Like, oh, did I cost us? Did I hurt us?” Later that night, though, Loucks personally reached out to Rubin to assure him:
Keep being aggressive. We appreciate you. Don’t be afraid to go for it.
“That confidence he’s instilled in us has taken a lot of the nerves away,” Rubin said. “I’m not going to say there’s none, but it’s definitely a lot easier.”
Especially when, as was the case Thursday, Rubin and Shnider went 2-for-2.
“Those two are on fire,” Loucks said. “I’m trying to humble them now that they’re getting interviews and getting some TV time.”
And, possibly, name, image and likeness deals to come. Last postseason, it was McNeese manager Amir “Aura” Khan who parlayed his moment in the spotlight into several NIL deals. (No coincidence that Rubin and Khan have connected in the last 24 hours, right?) Asked about any prospective partnerships, Rubin was just as eager as he is to recommend a challenge.
“I’d love to,” he joked. “If you’ve got any, hit me up. I’d be super grateful.”