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Agent Selection Scenarios: Pittsburgh Basketball

I have received good feedback on this new column and plenty of Retweets on Twitter for the features on Ohio State Basketball and Kansas Basketball.  Keep those Tweets coming!  Up next is the University of Pittsburgh, who many claim to be the beast of the Big East.  They have a big game in a few hours against #19 Connecticut, but even if Pitt loses, the team will get a very kind seed in the NCAA Tournament.  Here is where some of their former players have gone for representation.

  • DeJuan Blair – Happy Walters (Rogue Sports)
  • Mark Blount – Mark Bartelstein (Priority Sports)
  • Aaron Gray – Andy Miller (ASM Sports)
  • Chris Taft – Billy Ceisler. Waived by the Warriors in 2006.
  • Sam Young – Lance Young (Octagon). Lance is not related to Sam.

Quite the mix above; however, I am told that Happy Walters has a solid reputation on campus amongst the basketball players.  Thus, it should not be a surprise if the best player(s) at Pitt sign with Rogue Sports.  One can never count out Bartelstein and Miller from making a splash, though.  The players to watch are Gilbert Brown and Brad Wanamaker, who are both seniors on this year’s deep Pittsburgh team.  Brown is roughly 2 inches taller than Wanamaker and also 2 years Wanamaker’s elder.  Brown will also likely be drafted higher than Wanamaker, but neither player is guaranteed to be drafted at all.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.