IU Alums Ogunleye, Zeller, Cuban Offer Advice, Share Experiences With IU Student-Athletes Through Financial Literacy Seminar
11/12/2020 9:30:00 AM | General, Student-Athlete Services
Bloomington, Indiana – Indiana University's Excellence Academy wanted plenty of buy in from its student-athletes during a recent Zoom seminar on financial literacy.
And to help college students make sense of issues related to dollars and cents, what better way than hearing from three of IU's most prominent and successful alums?
On Wednesday, former NFL All-Pro Adewale Ogunleye, NBA standout Cody Zeller, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban teamed up to dive into the dos and the don'ts of budgets and bank accounts and a whole lot more for all of IU's student-athletes from its 24 sports programs. The financial literacy session was part of the personal development programming offered to Hoosier student-athletes through the IU Excellence Academy.
Leading the efforts was Ogunleye, the former Hoosier standout defensive end from the late 1990s that went on to a successful 11-year NFL career with the Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears and Houston Texans. During a pro career that ran from 2000-2010, Ogunleye piled up 67 career sacks, started in the 2007 Super Bowl, and earned a spot on the 2004 NFL Pro-Bowl team.
While Ogunleye's on-the-field successes are well known, his off-the-field accomplishments and experiences aren't. After earning his degree in English from IU in 1999, he went on to earn his MBA from George Washington University in 2014. He recently joined global wealth manager UBS, which entrusted him with creating and introducing a financial literacy course geared specifically to college student-athletes.
Ogunleye and UBS's collective vision for its financial literacy training is big. Eventually, they'd like to see it spread throughout the Big Ten and eventually the country. And as the idea was coming to fruition, some within the company suggested that perhaps a Notre Dame or a Florida was the right place to kick off the program.
But Ogunleye had different ideas.
"I told my boss, I'm an Indiana guy, so we're going to start at Indiana," Ogunleye said.
On Wednesday night, they did just that. Armed with an engaging financial literacy module designed by leading social impact education technology company, EVERFI, Ogunleye talked with current Hoosier student-athletes about the opportunities and obstacles that are on all of their horizons financially. With such a wide range of student-athletes and sports – most of whom will not have the same opportunities in professional sports that he did – Ogunleye knew when he took on this project that it wasn't about reaching only those who might one day be first round draft picks. Instead, it was about trying to connect with students on an area that often gets overlooked.
"This is an opportunity to add an extra layer of due diligence, letting them know we care, and letting them know our alums care about them as student-athletes," Ogunleye said.
As he formulated his plans and discussed them with IU Deputy Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator Mattie White and Director of Leadership and Life Skills Lisa Winters, Ogunleye knew that he wanted to make sure the presentation was engaging. To help make that happen, he reached out to Zeller and Cuban, both of whom jumped at the chance to share their owns words of wisdom on managing personal finances.
Zeller, the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, fielded a series of questions from current student-athletes. Cuban, meanwhile, was as surprise participant in the latter stages of the seminar and also offered his opinions and advice on how to take advantage of the financial opportunities that intercollegiate athletics can offer.
The end result was a well-received discussion on a wide range of topics, ranging from the obvious (personal budgets) to the not-so-obvious (Name, Image and Likeness opportunities and ramifications).
"We are tremendously proud of all of our alums, but it's extra special when we have former students like Adewale and Cody plus one of our great former IU graduates in Mark Cuban come back and take an active interest in sharing their experiences and expertise with our students," said IU Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Dolson. "To see all of them jump on board with this session speaks volumes about them as individuals and about the tremendous work of our Excellence Academy."
And to help college students make sense of issues related to dollars and cents, what better way than hearing from three of IU's most prominent and successful alums?
On Wednesday, former NFL All-Pro Adewale Ogunleye, NBA standout Cody Zeller, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban teamed up to dive into the dos and the don'ts of budgets and bank accounts and a whole lot more for all of IU's student-athletes from its 24 sports programs. The financial literacy session was part of the personal development programming offered to Hoosier student-athletes through the IU Excellence Academy.
Leading the efforts was Ogunleye, the former Hoosier standout defensive end from the late 1990s that went on to a successful 11-year NFL career with the Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears and Houston Texans. During a pro career that ran from 2000-2010, Ogunleye piled up 67 career sacks, started in the 2007 Super Bowl, and earned a spot on the 2004 NFL Pro-Bowl team.
While Ogunleye's on-the-field successes are well known, his off-the-field accomplishments and experiences aren't. After earning his degree in English from IU in 1999, he went on to earn his MBA from George Washington University in 2014. He recently joined global wealth manager UBS, which entrusted him with creating and introducing a financial literacy course geared specifically to college student-athletes.
Ogunleye and UBS's collective vision for its financial literacy training is big. Eventually, they'd like to see it spread throughout the Big Ten and eventually the country. And as the idea was coming to fruition, some within the company suggested that perhaps a Notre Dame or a Florida was the right place to kick off the program.
But Ogunleye had different ideas.
"I told my boss, I'm an Indiana guy, so we're going to start at Indiana," Ogunleye said.
On Wednesday night, they did just that. Armed with an engaging financial literacy module designed by leading social impact education technology company, EVERFI, Ogunleye talked with current Hoosier student-athletes about the opportunities and obstacles that are on all of their horizons financially. With such a wide range of student-athletes and sports – most of whom will not have the same opportunities in professional sports that he did – Ogunleye knew when he took on this project that it wasn't about reaching only those who might one day be first round draft picks. Instead, it was about trying to connect with students on an area that often gets overlooked.
"This is an opportunity to add an extra layer of due diligence, letting them know we care, and letting them know our alums care about them as student-athletes," Ogunleye said.
As he formulated his plans and discussed them with IU Deputy Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator Mattie White and Director of Leadership and Life Skills Lisa Winters, Ogunleye knew that he wanted to make sure the presentation was engaging. To help make that happen, he reached out to Zeller and Cuban, both of whom jumped at the chance to share their owns words of wisdom on managing personal finances.
Zeller, the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, fielded a series of questions from current student-athletes. Cuban, meanwhile, was as surprise participant in the latter stages of the seminar and also offered his opinions and advice on how to take advantage of the financial opportunities that intercollegiate athletics can offer.
The end result was a well-received discussion on a wide range of topics, ranging from the obvious (personal budgets) to the not-so-obvious (Name, Image and Likeness opportunities and ramifications).
"We are tremendously proud of all of our alums, but it's extra special when we have former students like Adewale and Cody plus one of our great former IU graduates in Mark Cuban come back and take an active interest in sharing their experiences and expertise with our students," said IU Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Dolson. "To see all of them jump on board with this session speaks volumes about them as individuals and about the tremendous work of our Excellence Academy."
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