Ian Singer is a 25 year- old sports agent and is the President and Director of Basketball Operations for Guardian Sports Group (www.guardiansportsgroup.com). Mr. Singer has made headway into the basketball world already, negotiating 3 NBA contracts with the D-League and other lucrative deals abroad, including a contract for NBA starter Lee Nailon. Mr. Singer is an NBA Certified agent and a licensed Athlete Agent with the Florida Department of Business. Ian currently represents 7 clients and he is in his final semester of law school. I was able to talk with Mr. Singer and learn about the agent business from a different perspective: from a young agent.

SportsAgentBlog: How did you get started in this industry?

Ian Singer: During my first semester of law school in December of 2004, I was hired by one of the area’s top attorneys, Aaron Cohen, to clerk for him and his blossoming criminal defense and family law practice. He became my legal mentor. In the winter of 2005, Aaron represented a prominent college football player in a private legal matter. Because Aaron knew my love for sports, he told me about the case over dinner and this gave me the idea to perhaps represent athletes as their agent. Next thing I knew, I called him the next day and suggested that we should start a sports agency. So in March 2006, he and I incorporated Guardian Sports Group, LLC. Right now, I oversee the company with his guidance.

SportsAgentBlog: Did you attend law school or grad school? If so, which law school or grad school?

Ian Singer: Yes. I am currently in my final semester of law school at St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens, Florida (http://ws1.stu.edu/lawschool/). I graduate in May.

SportsAgentBlog: Who was your first client (year, sport), and how did you recruit him?

Ian Singer: My very first client was Calvin Witherspoon who I signed in March of 2006. Calvin was a former conference player of the year at a small NCAA II school in South Carolina named Claflin. My roommate who works with me, Adam Bender got in touch Calvin through a mutual friend. Calvin was sitting around doing nothing and he gave me the chance to be his agent. I found him a job in the first division of Denmark where he played for about a month before injuring his knee and coming back home.

SportsAgentBlog: How did you handle your first contract negotiation?

Ian Singer: My first contract negotiation was with the Aabyhoj Basketball Club in Denmark for my first client Calvin Witherspoon. There wasn’t much bargaining going on because I didn’t have any offers on the table, and I was too worried that if I pushed the team too hard they would rescind the offer. And so, they came at me with a low offer, insisted they couldn’t go any higher, and I accepted the deal.

SportsAgentBlog: What is the most important aspect of being a sports agent?

Ian Singer: Hard work, honesty, and humility.

SportsAgentBlog: At what age do you feel an agent with hit his prime/glory years? Why?

Ian Singer: It’s an impossible question for me to answer this question because I have been doing this for almost a year and I feel like I’m taking big steps each day. I only hope that this trend continues throughout my career.

SportsAgentBlog: What is your opinion of larger agencies with less attention to their clients compared to smaller agencies who counsel more with their clients?

Ian Singer: In my opinion, as long as an agent can give each of his or her client’s full undivided attention, then it should not matter whether that agent is a part of a larger or smaller agency. Just like Dicky Fox said in Jerry Maguire, The key to this business is personal relationships.

SportsAgentBlog: Take our readers through a typical day in your life?

Ian Singer: I’ll go through my day today. I woke up at 7 am, checked e-mails, and studied for class. At about 9 am, I made the commute from my apartment in Fort Lauderdale to law school in Miami Gardens. I sat in my Real Estate Development class from 10:00 am to 11:15 am. During class, I was busy chatting with my foreign colleagues via instant messenger and again reading and sending e-mails. Once class finished, I went to the library where I continued to read and send e-mails until 1:00 when I had to go to my Entertainment Law class until 3:30. Then I had to rush to my Moral Dilemmas class, which lasted until 5:15. After class, I got in the car and called two of my clients currently playing overseas: Dexter Lyons in Luxembourg and Antonio Webb in Denmark. Both are doing really well¦. Dexter is averaging 35 ppg and Antonio just had 11 and 4 in his first pro game. After speaking with them, I sent out text messages to my partners in Israel to find out how my NBA client Lee Nailon did in his big game today in Israel against Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Lee had 31 points and his team caused Maccabi Tel-Aviv to not win its first Israeli Cup Championship in 10 straight years. After getting home, I again read and sent e-mails, ate dinner, and then studied for school. Lights out at about midnight and then I do it all over again tomorrow!

SportsAgentBlog: Does your agency provide internships for people looking to break into the industry?

Ian Singer: Unfortunately, right now we do not, simply because we are so new and do not have the need for interns. I do anticipate in the near future bringing in a couple of interns. I was lucky enough to intern for Aaron Cohen, my current partner, and so there is no reason why I should not give someone else a chance in the future like he did for me.

SportsAgentBlog: If you could do one thing to renovate the Sports Agent industry, what would it be and how would you go about accomplishing that goal?

Ian Singer: If there was a way to effectively eliminate the backstabbing, slandering, and scandalous practices of agents, I would be all for it. Right now the most effective means of doing this is via legislation penalizing unscrupulous agent conduct. While there are laws in place, there probably is more that could be done. Perhaps, colleges can hold seminars for their athletes to prepare them for shady agents. This stuff probably already exists, but if not, then I think it should be mandated by the NCAA and by the various Player’s Associations for the major professional sports leagues.

SportsAgentBlog: What are some of the things an agent can offer their clients besides the negotiation of contracts, getting endorsements, and others along those lines?

Ian Singer: I think a good and patient agent can be a strong sounding board for a client. Athletes just like individuals in any other profession have good days and bad days. It is on these bad days that they will want to vent to you about whoever and whatever and it is comforting for them to know that if they ever have any issues, you will always be there to listen to what they have to say and then provide them with advice.

SportsAgentBlog: What drives you to represent professional basketball players?

Ian Singer: Basketball is my PASSION. Ever since I was 11 years old when my mother put up a hoop in my backyard, I have been inseparable from the game. Not a minute goes without me thinking about something basketball-related.

SportsAgentBlog: How has your ability to successfully negotiate 3 NBA contracts for the D-League at your young age helped with your confidence as an up and coming agent?

Ian Singer: It has showed me that I can give athletes the same things that the more experienced agents can. It made me believe in myself even more that I could do this. It also gave me the confidence to talk to Lee Nailon when he was searching for a new agent after releasing his old one, and luckily that worked out in the end.

SportsAgentBlog: Being so young in this industry, what are some of the obstacles you have to overcome when trying to recruit the clients that all the big time agents are going after?

Ian Singer: The main obstacle that I have to overcome is inexperience. You simply can’t teach experience overnight, experience comes with time. And so, when I go head-to-head with a big time agency, I will first and foremost let an athlete know that I am a young agent who has only been doing this for about a year. If they are still willing to hear me out after that, then I know I am golden because in my heart of hearts, I know that my agency can give any athlete the same if not better service than any of my competitors. I never bluff my experience level; honesty is the only way to truly gain an athlete’s respect.

SportsAgentBlog: I really respect what you have done in your career so far. How were you able to balance the hectic schedule of the law school curriculum on top of providing services for your clients?

Ian Singer: Having a great support system. Attending law school and running a sport agency is no easy task. There is never a stress-free moment. However, I have great parents, and a great younger brother Jeremy, who all support my endeavors. They are the emotional backbone to the entire operation and without them I am nothing. Also, my colleagues Aaron Cohen and Adam Bender keep me grounded and provide me with advice and counsel whenever I need it.

SportsAgentBlog: Being considered as a top up and coming agent, what are some of the issues that future agents should consider before entering this industry?

Ian Singer: I must first say that I am by no means a big time agent. I do think that I do a good job especially because I have only been doing this for a year, but the bottom line is that I am not big. That being said, the most important thing I can say to a prospective agent is, don’t expect instant success. Everybody wants to become a sports agent. During my second year of law school, I took a sports law class. The professor on the first day asked, How many of you want to be agents? The entire class raised their hands. Also, the profession has the perception of being sexy and filled with glitz and glamour. I can assure anyone that these fun aspects of the business account for only 1% of it. 99% of this job is physically and emotionally draining work especially when you are first starting out like I am now. You are dealing with clients’ lives and often times wife’s and children’s lives as well. You need to stay on top of teams to make sure they are compensating your clients on time and abiding by the terms of the contracts. You need to call and email your clients religiously to make sure they are doing well. There are a million things that could go wrong and as the agent, it is up to you to make sure these things stay right and that your client has a smile on his face at the end of the day. This is by no means an easy task and once you start working as an agent with a client list, you can kiss your stress-free day’s goodbye. However, despite all of these hardships of the industry, I close my eyes at night knowing that I’m doing something that I absolutely love and can’t get enough of!

SportsAgentBlog: On behalf of SportsAgentBlog.com and all of our readers, I would like to thank Ian Singer for sharing his knowledge and experiences with us today. You can check his website out at Guardiansportsgroup.com. Till next time, be safe and act ethically in the business that you love.