I am just a little bit obsessed with Twitter.  Truthfully, all sports agents should be attached to the social media service, as well as competitors such as Facebook.  I do not know of many athletes who are not active on Twitter and/or Facebook.  Thus, agents need to be active in monitoring their clients’ activities on those networks.

Recently I received a press release from a company called “The Big Fat Mouth,” introducing a new division titled, “Social Media Coach for Athletes” (SMCA).  From the press release:

In today’s sports world, athletes are coached in every aspect of their game, including position skills, speed, strength, conditioning, agility, nutrition, sports psychology and more.  Beginning at the college level athletes are coached on how to answer questions from press and news media, but very few are coached on how to responsibly use social media, not to mention on how to use it to build their brand and future opportunities.  With SMCA’s programs and proper coaching, professional athletes can not only enhance their brand image,  but significantly enhance their income and future earning potential.

But how will athletes be coached?

SMCA provides live or Skype one-on-one training, live seminars, team and organization training and guidelines, with online training options becoming available before the end of May.  Each live training package is customized to the individual athlete where goals are identified and a specific strategy and game plan are created, exactly like every other aspect of an athletes training regimen.

The concept looks like it has potential.  I look forward to giving the training a try once it becomes available later this month.

Company Prepares to Introduce a Social Media Coach for Athletes from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

According to SMWW, 17 graduates of their Athlete Management Course were able to experience the 2012 NFL Draft as an Agent.  The following list displays those 24 SMWW players who have either signed contracts or were invited to minicamp.  The two players in red are no longer signed to SMWW agents.

Sports Management Worldwide’s (SMWW) Undrafted Free Agent Placements from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

At the time of publishing, Chris Freet (Associate Director of Athletics for Communications for the University of Miami) did not have much to comment.  Since then, he has answered a couple of my questions, which follow:

University of Miami Comments on New Football Agent Policy from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

I had a chance to catch up with Baker at this past week’s Sports Lawyers Association conference in San Diego, California.  Buddy seemed very excited to add Porter and his clientele to the ESG family.

Porter has been named Director of Basketball Operations at ESG.  At the moment, all ESG basketball players are either playing in the D-League, overseas, or are eligible for the upcoming NBA Draft.  ESG’s 2 draft-eligible players are Jesse Sanders, a guard from Liberty University and Mindaugas Kupsas, a 7’0 center from Lithuania.

Porter will be largely responsible for the growth and development of ESG’s basketball division and will work out of ESG’s Indianapolis headquarters as well as run the New Jersey office.

Exclusive Sports Group (ESG) Acquires Basketball Agent Sam Porter’s Business from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Young basketball agent Terrance Doyle attracted a lot of attention after signing Syracuse’s Scoop Jardine and former Mississippi State forward Arnett Moultrie. Jardine has a shot of playing in the NBA and Moultrie will very likely be playing at the highest level in the United States.

Unfortunately for Doyle, both signings were short-lived. Jardine left him and signed with Tony Dutt and Rival Sports Group. Moultrie moved on to Derek Lafayette, whose sole NBA client is Josh Howard.

It has certainly been an up-and-down year for Doyle. He signed the two guys he wanted and says that he lost both for reasons out of his control. But he certainly learned a lot in the process. Doyle will be someone to keep a close eye on leading up to next year’s NBA Draft.

On To The Next One: Arnett Moultrie from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

If Teague and Jones have officially made their decisions, that would leave Anthony Davis, Doron Lamb, and Darius Miller as Kentucky draft-eligible players who have yet to make a decision regarding representation.  However, lately I have been hearing that Lamb may be favoring Rose, who already represents Kidd-Gilchrist.

That Rose, Tellem, and Miller may each already have a future Kentucky draft pick signed should be no surprise.  The three are some of the most well-known and successful agents in the business of basketball.  While I would not be shocked to hear Rose pick up another Kentucky player (especially if that player is Lamb), I have always believed that the prospects would be making independent decisions in the agent selection process.

UPDATE (5/14/12 – 9:12 a.m.) - DraftExpress Tweets that Doron Lamb is signing with Arn Tellem.

Marquis Teague to be Represented by Andy Miller of ASM Sports from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

It is an unpaid internship, but Business Arena will comply with all class credit requirements and provide recommendations.

Please send resumes and short description of interest level to Travis J. Martz (travis@businessarenafootball.com).  Business Arena is based in Washington D.C., but applicants may be located anywhere as work will simply require creativity, focus and a computer.

Internship Opportunity with Business Arena Football Management from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Football

• Regarding the JR Sports Enterprises’ “War Room” [No rest for local agents during NFL Draft].
• Highlighting Ed Wasielewski A day in the life of an NFL agent].
• Not the best rap sheet [Former UNC football player Hawkins arrested].

Sports Law

• It sounds like Leigh Steinberg’s UC Irvine law course would be worth taking [The School of Steinberg].

Baseball

• Arn Tellem really wanted to be involved with the Dodgers [Magic Johnson, Stan Kasten, Arn Tellem and ... baseball].

Entertainment

• Based on agent J.B. Bernstein [Jon Hamm: 'Million Dollar Arm' Sports Agent].

Hockey

• Quotes from Allan Walsh [Agent says NHL should adjust to concussion safeguards used by NFL].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (5/11/2012) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

I figured that Leon Rose of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) was good for at least one of Kentucky’s talented underclassmen headed for the NBA.  And I have heard from multiple sources that Rose has signed Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who just finished an outstanding freshman season.

Kidd-Gilchrist is a sure lottery pick along with Kentucky’s Anthony Davis, who is said to be a lock at being drafted #1 overall.  I currently do not have agent information for Davis nor other likely Kentucky draft picks including Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb, and Darius Miller.  However, yesterday I did hear that Terrence Jones will likely be signing with Arn Tellem of Wasserman Media Group.  I would not be surprised if each player decides to pick separate representation.  On the day of the 2012 NCAA Tournament Championship Game, I assumed that Kentucky’s players would choose different agents, including Rose and Tellem.

Rose has also signed Senior guard Kim English from Missouri and Senior guard Zack Rosen from the University of Pennsylvania.  English averaged 14.5 points-per-game during the season and 18.3 points-per-game at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.  He could be a late draft pick or possibly make it on to an NBA team as an undrafted free agent.  Rosen averaged 18.2 points-per-game against easier competition than English, but he did earn Ivy League Player of the Year honors and happened to graduate from the Wharton School of Business.

Leon Rose Signs Three 2012 NBA Prospects Including Michael Kidd-Gilchrist from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Without a doubt, the most popular article on Sports Agent Blog is our 2012 NFL Draft Rounds 1-7 Picks (Player/Agent) list. The list goes through picks 1-253 of the 2012 NFL Draft and highlights each pick along with his respective agent.

After posting up the list, I received a message from Belmont University law school student and aspiring sports/entertainment agent Mark J. Burns, who offered to reconfigure the Player/Agent list into a spreadsheet.  The result is a new 2012 NFL Draft Compilation of Players and Agents by their position (click here for the free download).  Not only is the resource completely free-of-charge, but I encourage you to share this article on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social networks that you enjoy.

2012 NFL Draft Compilation of Players and Agents by Position from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules