AUBURN — Nine months ago, Josh Titus held the Edward Little High School gymnasium in the palm of his hand. 

Thursday night in the same gym, he held some sweaty towels. And he couldn’t have been happier.

On his first night as the Maine Red Claws’ team manager, Titus, 19, looked right at home. Not just because he was back to doing what he had done last winter for the Edward Little boys’ varsity basketball team.

Like the players who wowed the crowd at the new NBA Development League team’s first intrasquad scrimmage, Titus has his own NBA dreams. He hopes his new role will help him get his start.

He isn’t working toward one day holding Paul Pierce’s warm-up suit or running errands for Rajon Rondo. He has other plans: “as an accountant for the Celtics,” he said.  

The past nine months have been a whirlwind for Titus, who has high-functioning autism. The ride that has taken him from high school to pro basketball team manager began last February, when the Edward Little High School varsity basketball team elevated him from team manager to teammate on Senior Night. With the EL student section chanting his name, Titus entered the game early in the fourth quarter and quickly scored nine points.

A couple of days later, Titus was national news, along with Patrick Thibodeau, the team manager with Down syndrome who had played for Greely High School on the same night. Recognition for their achievements started locally. A special award was created in their honor and presented to them at a high school all-star basketball banquet by Jason McElwain, whose story had inspired Edward Little and Greely to get them in the game. McDonald’s owners in Maine payed for a trip to the Final Four and CBS broadcast a moving feature about them. They appeared on the “Today” show, and the Boston Celtics honored them as “Heroes Among Us” during a playoff game in May. The Celtics also invited them to their summer youth camp.

The awards sit on a shelf in Titus’ bedroom and framed newspaper articles hang on the walls. They are sources of pride for Josh and his family — father Andy, mother Carolyn and older brother Nate — but what happened to Josh’s personality and confidence while he was the center of attention has had more of an impact. 

“It’s really helped him a lot,” his father said. “It’s brought him out of his shell a lot. A lot happened in six weeks, and he changed a lot. He was a little bit quiet and shy, and all of a sudden being in the national spotlight, I think it really helped him a lot.” 

Josh impressed the Celtics enough for Jon Jennings, president and general manager of the Red Claws, the Celtics’ NBA Development League affiliate, to offer him the team manager’s position.  

“We got talking to him a long time ago. Obviously, he has a lot of notoriety from his basketball career,” Jennings said. “We didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. We’re thrilled that he wanted to do it. We’re excited to have him playing what will really be a key role for us.”

Jennings said Titus will be responsible for helping get the Red Claws’ locker room and bench prepared for game days. Josh went to Portland on Tuesday to learn some of his responsibilities. Thursday’s scrimmage at EL was his first time in his new job. 

“It’s going to be busy,” Josh said Wednesday night. “I have to get all of the basketballs ready, the Gatorade coolers …”

“And laundry boy,” his mother interjected.

“Aw, I’m not doing any laundry,” Josh said.

He had to arrive at the high school just before 3 p.m. to get everything set up for tip-off four hours later. Before every Red Claws’ home game, he’ll lay out the uniforms, stock the locker room with drinks and ice and anything else the players need before the game. During the action, he’ll collect the warm-ups when the players go into the game and give them a towel and a drink when they come out.

Seeing their son take on his new job made Andy and Carolyn reflect on how far he’s come, and how he got there.

“I can’t believe how the community has responded to him,” Andy said. “They’ve given us so much help.”

The help has been there whenever Josh has needed it, from the time he was a young boy, the Tituses said. Friends, teachers, classmates, teammates, and more strangers than they could possibly count.

So much help has made Josh more independent. He has his driver’s license now, and he enrolled at Central Maine Community College, taking one accounting course in the fall semester to see how he adjusts to college.

“I can’t wait for second semester, so I can get into more classes,” he said. “We need to get on that. Registration is coming right up.”

Whether or not he becomes the Celtics’ accountant, Josh Titus’ accomplishments already are too big for any shelf.

“He surrounds himself with supportive people,” Carolyn said. “That’s his success.”

2009 Edward Little High School graduate Josh Titus tosses a ball to a Maine Red Claws player during warm-ups for an intrasquad scrimmage Thursday night at EL in Auburn. Titus is team manager for the Portland-based NBA D-League team.

Auburn native Josh Titus fills paper cups with Gatorade, one of his duties as team manager of the Maine Red Claws, a new NBA D-League basketball team based in Portland. The team played an intrasquad game Thursday night at Edward Little High School in Auburn.