You probably have never heard of the Student Basketball Forum, but if author/speaker/businessman Marc Isenberg and Nolan Smith of the Portland Trail Blazers (and former Duke Blue Devil) have their way, the “Forum” will gather the strength to empower the next generation of great college and pro basketball players and great leaders.  The gentlemen have made their presence known on an official Facebook page and they received some positive press a few days ago in the Wall Street Journal.

The Forum’s missions are as follows:

• Empower: We believe uninformed and misinformed athletes are easy marks for unscrupulous coaches, boosters, agents, financial advisors and even friends and family. The Forum will educate and empower players to take a more active role in shaping their future success—and give hem the educational tools necessary to do so.
• Advocate: College basketball is a great game, but it is a questionable business, especially when viewed though the athletes’ experience. College players need a group dedicated to their interests.  Think about it: Every other group within the NCAA’s hierarchy has an group that represents college presidents, athletic directors and coaches. It’s 2011: College basketball players deserve an organization that unapologetically serves them.
• Mentor: Too many professional athletes end up experiencing problems— financial, physical and mental. This is a reversible trend—at least for those who are willing to put in the time necessary to learn how the business of sports works. In order to help basketball players succeed, The Forum will build a trusted mentorship network to help the next generation of players succeed.

A Student Basketball Forum To Empower And Mentor Athletes from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Shelvin Mack’s agent selection process was fun to watch.  On May 9, 2011, I noted that he had narrowed the agencies down to three: Octagon, The Neustadt Group, andASM Sports.  Each group had plans to visit Mack and his family in Louisville, Kentucky.  One week later, and Mack has made his decision.  He will be represented by Doug Neustadt of The Neustadt Group leading up to the 2011 NBA Draft.

Neustadt emerged victorious even though he was up against two juggernauts for the right to represent Mack.  ASM recently took a blow in the New York Times, which was probably brought up by Neustadt and Octagon in discussions with Mack and his family.  But Neustadt, the former Octagon employee, was able to beat out his former boss when it mattered most.  Along with Mack, Neustadt is representing Chris Wright, who just finished his senior season at Georgetown.

Mack and Wright are joined by Steve Novak, Boras Diaw, and Jonas Jerebko as Neustadt clients.  Compare that to Octagon’s laundry list that includes Rudy Gay, Kirk Hinrich, Wesley Matthews, Stephen Curry, and Landry Fields.  Victory for Neustadt.

Shelvin Mack Makes His Decision: Doug Neustadt from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Isaiah Thomas has officially signed with Dan Fegan and Byron Irvin of Lagardere Unlimited.  The news was first reported yesterday by Ryan Feldman of The Hoops Report.  Fegan is also representing talented Brazilian basketball player Lucas Nogueira, while Irvin is representing Jacob Pullen of Kansas State, who may end up going undrafted.

Thomas ran the point for the Washington Huskies this past season.  He will probably get criticized for his height (5’9), but he proved that his speed and ball handling can quickly quiet any doubters.  Hopefully he does not take a beating for his very active Tweeting (@Isaiah_Thomas2).  I do not doubt that he is putting in tremendous effort in his workouts, but we all know that certain owners do not understand how athletes find the time for any pleasure.

Best of luck to Fegan, Irvin, and the rest of the crew at Lagardere.

Update: I have been informed that Thomas signed specifically with Irvin at Lagardere, which is the same firm where Fegan works; however, Fegan had little to no involvement in Thomas’ signing with Lagardere.

Isaiah Thomas Signs With Lagardere Unlimited from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Brandon Knight surprised a lot of people when he declared that he would keep his name in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Knight is a very smart, talented basketball player, but many believe there is still a lot of room for Knight to develop as a true point guard.  Even with that in mind, Knight is a guaranteed lottery pick and may be selected with one of the top 5 picks of the Draft.

Arn Tellem of Wasserman Media Group will do his best to convince general managers that Brandon Knight deserves to be the #1 pick overall.  He has experience representing a point guard who was selected #1 overall; Tellem represents Derrick Rose, the 2011 NBA Most Valuable Player.

Tellem does not have a history of representing many former University of Kentucky players, but neither do any other agents.  However, Derrick Rose played under Coach Calipari at Memphis; Coach Cal is now the coach at Kentucky.  Tellem does represent the Big Cat (Jamaal Magloire), who is a former Kentucky Wildcat currently playing with the Miami Heat.

Brandon Knight Chooses Arn Tellem Of Wasserman Media Group from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Most 2011 NBA Mock Drafts predict that Mack will be selected somewhere near the middle of the pack in the 2nd round.  This past season, Mack averaged 16 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game, but only shot a 40.8 field goal percentage.

Doug Neustadt is going up against two much larger NBA agencies in the recruitment of Mack.  Interestingly, Neustadt got his start in the sports agent industry working at Octagon, where he was an agent in the company’s Basketball Division for roughly nine years.  He is now competing against his former company and ASM Sports, which was recently written about in the New York Times as possibly having a connection to a runner who is a former convict.

Shelvin Mack Narrows Agent Search Down To Three from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

When the San Diego State Aztecs were making a run in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, I predicted that the talented Kawhi Leonard was likely to leave after his Sophomore season and enter the 2011 NBA Draft.  SDSU does not have a deep alumni base of professional basketball players, but a few big agencies including Excel Sports, Lagardere Unlimited, and Octagon have had success representing former SDSU players.  None of those agencies ended up signing Kawhi Leonard.  Instead, Brian Elfus of Impact Sports Management has earned the right to represent Leonard in the upcoming draft.

Brian Elfus was teamed up with Michael Siegel at Elfus & Siegel Management (ESM), where they represented Tyrus Thomas and Marcus Thornton.  Late 2010, the co-founders became a part of Impact Sports Management, which has a history of representing a multitude of football players.  The signing of Leonard is huge for the football agency as it becomes more involved in basketball.

Kawhi Leonard Signs With Impact Sports Management from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

The battle for the right to represent Jimmer Fredette has come to an abrupt end.  Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports broke the news yesterday when he reported that Fredette has signed with Jeff Austin and Chris Emens of Octagon.  The men at Octagon will aim to continue Jimmer fever that has swept across the country in the past year.

I know that BDA Sports pushed hard to recruit Fredette and heard Bob Myers, formerly of Wasserman Media Group and currently the Assistant General Manager of the Golden State Warriors, talk about how difficult the recruitment of Fredette had become.  In the end, Octagon prevailed.  It will be interesting to see whether Fredette also allows Octagon to handle his marketing endeavors or if he separately hires a company for all off-court matters.

Jimmer Fredette Is An Octagon Client from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Potential #1 overall selection in the 2011 NBA Draft, Kyrie Irving, has officially signed with an agent, and it is not a name you might guess on your first try.  In fact, you may not even get it right after your fifth try.  Irving has selected Jeffrey Wechsler of 24/7 Sports Management as his agent.  The following was Tweeted by Larry Hughes and Re-Tweeted by Irving, himself.

24/7 sports management wanna welcome the young homie Kyrie Irving to the family.

April 29, 2011 9:22 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@thereallhughes

L Hughes

24/7 Sports Management is based in Coral Gables, Florida.  The company also represents Quentin Richardson and D.J. White.  Irving becomes Wechsler’s first client from Duke University, which has been a hotbed of talented basketball players for many years.  It is likely that Wechsler had to beat out the likes of Wasserman Media Group, BDA Sports, Landmark Sports Agency, FAME, Priority Sports, and Williams & Connolly in order to win the right to represent Irving.  Congratulations are due for Wechsler and 24/7 Sports Management.

Kyrie Irving Signs With Jeffrey Wechsler Of 24/7 Sports Management from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Derrick Williams just finished his Sophomore season at the University of Arizona.  During the NCAA Tournament, quite a few people said that Williams was one of, if not the, best college players in America.

On March 24, 2011, I looked at which agents and agencies have signed talented Arizona basketball players over the past few years.  I noted that BDA Sports and Landmark Sports Agency both seem to be in the lead with two players each, but that it seemed as though anybody had a shot at Derrick Williams.  At the time, I knew that BDA Sports, Landmark Sports Agency, and Wasserman Media Group were in the running, and time has told who the victor will be.

According to HoopsHype, Rob Pelinka of Landmark Sports Agency has recently signed Williams.

Derrick Williams, a potential No. 1 pick in the draft, has signed with agent Rob Pelinka, sources told HoopsHype. http://bit.ly/hAAEtT

April 25, 2011 3:33 pm via FaWaveReplyRetweetFavorite

@hoopshype

HoopsHype.com

Other players currently represented by Pelinka at Landmark Sports Agency include Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Andre Iguodala, and Carlos Boozer.

Derrick Williams Picks Rob Pelinka Of Landmark Sports Agency from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Walker joins quite a list of players represented by Schwartz at Excel, which includes Hilton Armstrong, Emeka Okafor, A.J. Price, and Charlie Villanueva.  Schwartz also just happens to represent Coach Jim Calhoun, who is the coach for the University of Connecticut Huskies.

Congratulations are due for Jeff Schwartz and the rest of the Excel Sports team, who likely just picked up a future lottery pick in Kemba Walker.

Kemba Walker Signs With Excel Sports For Representation from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules