It is just about the heart of signing season for basketball agents looking to represent players leaving their respective universities. Minus those players on teams slated to play in the Final Four, all players who are fully committed to playing at the next level and understand that signing with an agent will force them to leave behind their student-athlete eligibility are going through the agent selection process and have, or will soon be, executing the paperwork that will secure them representation.
Paul Wachter of Businessweek put together a story (more of a graphic with quotes) on how college players get linked up with agents. Happy Walters, Jeff Brodie and Mike Silverman were interviewed for the piece. Walters represents Amar’e Stoudemire, Iman Shumpert and Moe Harkless, and is the leader of Relativity Sports. Silverman represents Quincy Acy. I did not even know Jeff Brodie was a basketball agent; however, this profile page says he is certified with the NBPA.
I thought that the best blurb from Wachter’s piece was the section titled, “Have Big-Time Clients Call Him.”
When Houston Rockets All-Star James Harden played at Arizona State, he’d get calls from NBA superstar Kobe Bryant. “Kobe would call and say, ‘I like your game fella,’ and Harden’s face would light up,” recalls a former classmate. In 2009, Harden signed with Rob Pelinka, Bryant’s agent. “It’s a small world,” says sports marketer Sonny Vaccaro.
