Rachel Baker - Duke University Men's Basketball Ge

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out of whatever you're into. The thing is how you do everything. If you're not, you don't pay attention to detail on the little things, you're not going to be in the habit of paying attention to detail for the big thing. You don't have the imagination and the willingness to fail or not being afraid to fail. I don't think you can be truly great. Candace Parker. I

have so much hope for this generation coming up that I've grown up with women in sports, in leadership roles, on television, speaking about sports, speaking knowledgeably about sports. Just to name a few of this. Welcome to sports business radio. Now here's Brian Burger. Well, thanks for joining us on this edition of sports business radio. I'm coming to you from the campus of Duke University this week.

I've had the opportunity to take a behind the scenes. Look at Duke's men's basketball program and iconic collegiate basketball program Rachel Baker, who's the general manager of Duke's men's basketball program is my guest. Baker was hired for this trailblazing position and college sports in June of last year. It's a position that will likely be hired at other elite college basketball and football programs in the future.

Baker discusses her career path thus far, being a woman working in sports and leading an elite men's basketball program. And what Duke is doing specifically to help its student athletes with everything from navigating NIL deals to supporting the players with mental health. We also look inside of Duke's men's basketball program from how the program taps into its incredible network of Duke basketball alumni to how the

Cameron crazies secure tickets to home basketball games at Cameron indoor stadium. I know you're going to find this conversation is insightful as I did, especially if you work in college sports. Here in sports marketing or you're a woman working in sports and remember the name Rachel Baker, I'm telling you right now she's going to be a woman working in sports. She is destined for greatness in

the sports business industry. I can see her being a team president or even a commissioner someday. I greatly appreciate Rachel and the Duke men's basketball team hosting me this week. Also joining me on sports business radio this week coming up after this segment is Sandra L Richards head of Morgan Stanley's global sports and entertainment. We have a major announcement to make about a new partnership between

Morgan Stanley global sports and entertainment. And sports business radio. We've been working on this one for quite a while. It's going to be a game changer for us. So I'm really excited to reveal the details with Sandra's help coming up in a few minutes. I'm joined by Brian Griggs. Griggs, how are you? I'm doing great and Ben enjoying your pictures from Duke University on on your

socials because man, the place looks like as you say Hogwarts for college, right? Yeah, it is a stunning campus. Just phenomenal. Now I've been in the South, I'm from the western part of the United States as you are, Griggs, and the people in the south are just the nicest, most down to Earth hospitable people. I've really enjoyed the southern hospitality. And I'm going tonight to my

first ever Duke men's basketball game at Cameron indoor. I'm excited. I don't get excited about attending sporting events too often anymore, but this is a bucket list item from me. And after learning about Duke and hearing, you know, from Rachel about the men's basketball team, I'm excited to see it all in action at Cameron indoor stadium. Yeah. And Rachel is just a great interview. No so

much about the program helps so much with the program. And I mean, she has some great opportunities for me. And I'm excited. Like you said, you're, well, we'll see her as a commissioner or something someday because you can just tell how she carries herself and the answers and the things she knows. But yeah, I mean, Duke's iconic. I mean, it is college basketball. It's when you

can get behind the scenes and pull the curtain back just a little bit with a big program like Duke and kind of figure out how it runs and and how the whole show happens. It's pretty impressive. So I'm looking forward to hearing after you go to the game tonight. What it's what it's like. Yeah, follow along on Instagram at sports business radio or on Twitter at

SB radio. I'll be posting actively on all right, before we get to the conversation with Sandra L Richards and with Rachel Baker, let's look at the headline of the week. Griggs Super Bowl 57. The lineup is set. We know who it is. It's February 12th in Arizona. It's going to match the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles against the AFC champion Kansas City chiefs. As of this recording,

the Eagles are two point favorites. The game is going to be broadcast by Fox with Kevin Burkhart and great old Wilson on the call. Rihanna is going to be performing for the Apple music half time show. Chris Stableton, Tennessee whiskey himself is going to sing the national anthem. So Griggs, are you excited about this matchup? You were, I think you were over two in your picks.

I was one for two. I had the bangles and the Eagles. You had the Niners and the bangles. So what do you think this time around? Or you can even hold off till next week. If you need another week to figure out who you're going to take in this game. Yeah, you know, I've never been the luckiest guy on picks. You know, whether it be pulling

lottery numbers, DK Metcalf is my number one draft pick. You know, things like that. Don't work out for me too well, but either way, it's going to be a fun matchup. I mean, once, once Brock, pretty went down, didn't look good, but you're right. We texted during the game Philly is just a dominating force. I mean, that game was over no matter who was playing quarterback.

I think for San Fran. So I think Philly is going to win the whole, the whole deal. I really do. I just don't know who's going to beat them. They're blowing teams out in the play. Offs. I think it'll be competitive, but I do think Philly is going to get the Super Bowl win. You know, the chiefs are fun. Obviously with my homes and Kelsey and

the crew, but they've lost. They lost a bunch of receivers in that game. They got some injuries. They got to figure out too. So it'll be a fun game. I'm looking forward to the brother battle. The Kelsey brothers. I mean, they're both hilarious and fun to watch. So I think that'll be a fun that little side angle, but it's super bowl. It's going to be fun.

Looking forward to halftime too and stable to kick it off. So let's go. All right. A couple more nuggets. And by the way, I'm not making my pick till next week. So we'll hold off on that. But a few more nuggets around the Super Bowl. The cost for a 30 second spot. In this year's Super Bowl, Griggs, a record $7 million. That is the record high,

$6.5 million was the cost for a 30 second spot last year. And Fox's inventory is reportedly 95% filled. So Fox and the NFL are going to rake it in on the Super Bowl spots next week on our show. We'll dig into who's going to be in some of these spots. But as we've always said, Griggs, that's just the cost for the airtime. If you're going to

go higher, a famous actor or actress, you've got to pay to produce the spot. I mean, you're looking at $7 million plus probably at least another five to $7 million. You might be 15 million dollars in for a 30 second. That's unbelievable. We've been doing this show for 19 years. And the cost of the 30 second spot for the Super Bowl has just escalated and escalated

every single year. I thought there would be a bubble. Maybe a few years ago where it would level out. And it would stay pretty flat from one year to the next. But don't every year price goes up. And the inventory still sells out. You would think they'd go well. Fox isn't sold out because the price of the commercial is still so much. Nope. Not having a

problem selling these spots at all. Well, it's just that 100 million viewers. It is the most washed event every year. Hands down, not even close. And that value is incredible. And you mix that with now with all the socials. They're posting it on YouTube. They're posting it on all the socials. In fact, this year, I've seen even more teaser spots. I've seen a lot of different

spots. You know, Michael O'Boltra, a couple other ones where they've kind of teased the half time commercial or whatever they're going to place it. But I think there's so much money around this. And the viewership is so huge that these people keep spending. And every year, it's going up. I think it was only like five, five and a half last year. So when a year, it's

gone up a million and a half or two million, that is crazy. The other thing that NFL has to like with this matchup is you've got some stars. Patrick Mahons is one of the faces of the NFL. You've got a young star in Jalen Hertz, who's an MVP candidate this year. And then these are two fan bases that are going to travel for this game. So

Philly hasn't been in the game since 2017 when they beat New England. And then Kansas City was in the game in 2020. But Griggs, that was the pandemic. So no fans could come. So these are two fan bases that travel really well. And we'll talk to you next week about ticket prices. But the way this is lining up is this could be the most expensive Super

Bowl ticket in the history of the Super Bowl. And we'll have those numbers for you next week. But Griggs, two number one seeds Philly and Kansas City. Both teams have stars. This is a recipe for great great. Viewing audience for the NFL for Fox. And like you said, those sponsors who were trying to get so many eyeballs to their product and who were paying a hefty

price to advertise during the Super Bowl. Yeah, you got a good venue. You got the desert. Everybody loves going to sunny Arizona. So I think traveling from two cold climates KC. It was like 10 degrees. The game they displayed. So I think you got people are like, okay, let me put some shorts on and go swimming for the week. So I think you're right. You got

great fan bases. It's at a great location. The heat in the sun, the desert. People are going to get to go there and it's always watchable. I am curious to see how the ticket prices have gone up. Because just like the ads, everything goes up every year. It'll be those numbers will be interesting. All right. So next week show. We're going to have some special NFL

related guests. You'll be excited to see who those are. And then we'll dig in more on the ticket prices. And who's going to be advertising during the game and we'll have some other little nuggets for you to prep you for when you watch Super Bowl 50. And then we'll be going to be seven in Arizona on February 12. Live on Fox coming up next. Got a

big announcement about a new partnership with Morgan Stanley Global Sports and Entertainment. Sandra Elle Richards is gonna join me for that. And then after that, Rachel Baker the General Manager of Duke's Men's basketball program is gonna stop by, and you're gonna enjoy that conversation. You're listening to Sports Business Radio. We'll be right back. I'm joined by Sandra Elle Richards. She's the head of Morgan Stanley's Global

Sports and Entertainment Division. She's been on with me before. You can follow her on Twitter at Sandra Elle Richards. Sandra, how are you? Happy New Year. I'm good. How are you? Happy New Year to you? Well, you're joining me because we have some big news to share with our audience. And I gotta tell you, I've been doing the show for 19 years. This may be the

most exciting partnership that we've ever had. I told our audience when you were on last time that I personally have worked with Morgan Stanley for two decades. They manage my money. And I just think the world of what you guys are doing in the world of financial literacy education and empowering athletes and entertainers today through Morgan Stanley. So I'm excited to announce to our audience with

you here with me, Sandra, that Morgan Stanley Global Sports and Entertainment is the exclusive financial sponsor of Sports Business Radio going forward. This is a big day for us. And we're just so excited to partner with you. No, thank you so much. And working with Steven on our team and talking to you and your team. And again, you had me on your show. I just thought

that what you talk about and the platform that you have in telling the great stories and trying to shift the narrative about athletes and what they're doing in their space on and off the court in front of the camera or off the camera. I think you're just telling really great stories. So proud to be a partner with you on this. Well, thank you. Yeah, we talked

about that before when you were on. I mean, I look at some of the guests that we've had on over the years. Maria Sharapova, Ken Griffey Jr., Candace Parker, Malcolm Jenkins, so many athletes that are there. They're their own business leader. They're the CEO of their own brand. It used to be, you know, you sign an endorsement deal and you've got to check and, you know,

you just put your name on a shoe or a product. Now, these are athletes that are running their own multi million dollar corporations. And it's really neat to see how that's changed. And it's great that you're, you know, you're facilitating those conversations because while we need, you know, financial education, this is education overall as you're building your brand, your business. And other athletes are looking at

them to try to emulate what they're doing, getting inspiration for them. So, you know, you having those conversations and giving them the platform to talk about that is really important. And so again, that's why we're delighted to be partner with you on, you know, sharing these kinds of stories. Because it's important. Well, like I said a couple minutes ago, we're going to be working with you

to highlight an athlete each month who's out there doing great things in the business world. And, you know, I think we recognize many of those athletes on the show and we've talked to many of them about what they're doing. But I do think it needs to be pushed to the forefront even more. So I'm just so excited to be working with Morgan Stanley on that. No,

it's really great. And look sports business radio and Brian, you know, you're one of the best in the business. So happy to be here with you. You are too kind. Let's talk about financial literacy education. Again, 20 years ago, this wasn't being taught as much. But I know, for example, Morgan Stanley is working for the ninth year with the Reese's Senior Bowl and the participants of

that game. Tell us what you're doing at these events where you're providing financial literacy education to the athletes. You know, when the business was started, it started focusing on and developed on the basis and the foundation. Financial education. And so it's just an extension of how we do our business with our clients talking, going out in the community and in doing these and facilitating these kind

of conversations. But we're having those about, you know, budgeting, saving, investing, credit. And as you said, being the CEO of your own business, what does that look like? How do you go and find, you know, trusted advisors? What are some of the questions you should be asking? Are sessions are never about selling product? Not about, you know, come open an account with us, but it's more

so about taking that education and that you're armed with information. No matter who you're talking to, if you're talking to a CPA, you're talking to an attorney, you know, you have enough information to go in and have intelligent conversations and and really be the driver of your business and a brand that you have. So it's important. Even more so, you know, for rookies for professional athletes,

those even when they retire. But even if you go way back into talking to kids in high school and we just did the whole plastic and you know, talking to college students, you know, we all know LIL and I L is a reality for many now and those are conversations. We need to have as early as college as early as high school. And you know, we

might have to go to the little, you know, a little pop water kids to see everybody looking at these young people so early on. And it's not even in the community. We're engaging them, but it's often engaging their parents and the coaches that around we have a great relationship that we develop with the national coalition of minority football coaches. So, you know, all those people in

the ecosystem, we need to be talking to and highlighting the importance of having these conversations. Yeah, I think you hit it on the head. It used to be you had these conversations with athletes who are getting ready to turn pro. Now with NIL, it's changed everything. And there's NIL in some states. And there's some college athletes in high school. So educating high school athletes. And like

you said, college athletes. There are some college athletes out there right now who are making millions of dollars because of name and likeness. So I think the earlier the education starts the better and Morgan Stanley is leading those conversations, which again was so attractive to us to be partnered with you. No, appreciated. And you know, the foundation of figuring out what's your why? What do you

want to do? To fall in this for and how do you want to be seen, not just from a brand and a corporate citizen, a good person and being the role model for the next generation and people that are coming behind you. We want to be at the table helping to facilitate and changing narratives around how people are seeing athletes in their space and look. There

have been so many athletes that helped to change a narrative. We're just being part of that conversation to continue to facilitate that. And the basis is definitely focused on financial education. Yeah. And the thing that's changed again so much in the last 20, 25 years, it used to be, you know, you have an agent or you have a financial person who handles everything and you trust

them and you just give it to them. Now the athletes want to understand this themselves. They want to be the CEO of their own company. They don't want to just hand it off to someone else. Absolutely. And they absolutely should. You know, this is I think you're going to be a great person. And more and more, you know, you're seeing the power and the athletes recognizing

the power of the platform and the power that they have and the voice that they have. And it matters and it's important. This is your bread. This is your bucket. This is your bag. You need to take care of it. And you need to understand what's happening with it. And look, you don't need to, you know, when you know some people say, no, you just go

out and play ball. I'll handle it. No, I need to understand what's going on here too. Now I'm going to let you do your job. But you know, you want as an athlete, you should want to. And if anybody, you should want to be at the table, understanding what's going on because it's it's it's your library. It's how you eat. It's how you take care of

your family. It's how you take care of yourself when, you know, this one part of your career, the over and you're going on to the next. It is important. So, you know, again, for us to be together and facilitating these conversations with many of the partners that we have the colleges and universities that we go to. Look, we're just excited to be in the conversation and

hoping to make a difference in an impact. Another part of our partnership with you is going to be that we're going to take sports business radio on the road. You guys are part of some amazing conversations. I love road shows. I know road shows are fun. We like being in front of live audiences. You are a rock star. I see you all over social media. It

seems like you're in a new location every week, whether it's at a university. Or a conference and you're leading these conversations. So we're super excited to join you at a couple of those and, you know, again, lead these conversations in person. Look, and I must say that, you know, it's while you see me, there's many people in our team that are doing really great things. And

we have about 235 global sports and entertainment directors across the country who are doing things who are part of what we're doing and also locally doing hosting financial education sessions on the own. So some of it you may not even see, but they're happening day in and day out. And you know, that is in the DNA of our global sports and entertainment director. So it's a

big team of us out there doing this. So, you know, people are listening and they want us to come host the session. When I have a conversation, they are plenty of us to talk to you. Well, and I'll give a little plug here. If you want to learn more about Morgan Stanley, global sports and entertainment, go to Morgan Stanley dot com backslash. So, you know, we've

got a guy called a guy named Ed Wittler and he's the CEO of ESE. And you can read about what they're doing. You can connect with them personally. And, you know, throughout this partnership, we're going to make sure that people know how to reach you. And if they're looking for financial literacy, education or things of that nature, they know how to get a hold of you.

Because you're doing such great things. Sandra. I know you've got a busy schedule. I'm going to let you go. But I wanted to bring you on this week show to make this big announcement. We're so excited. And I look forward to the year ahead. I'm excited too. And you know, I can't wait to the first leg on the road show. That's going to be fun. I

look forward to seeing you in person. You too. Well, like I said, Sandra is everywhere. And she's going to be participating in a great panel this Thursday, February 2nd. It's the Invesco QQQ panel in connection with the Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic. The star studded panel is going to be moderated by Taylor Rooks. She's going to be joined on the panel by Grant Hill. Justin Lawson and

it's connecting with students and student athletes from HBCU Schools participating in this weekend in the year that you stay at the top of your game, your business, your craft. Morgan Stanley Global Sports Entertainment is a division of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Dedicated to serving the unique and sophisticated needs of elite and professional athletes, entertainers, executives, creators, and other top talent and professionals in the sports and

entertainment industry. They deliver the education, strategies and expertise you need to help advance your financial game plan at every stage of your life. You're a career journey. They speak the language. They know your business. Morgan Stanley will work with you to achieve your goals. I've trusted Morgan Stanley with my personal wealth management for almost 20 years. Visit Morgan Stanley at Morgan Stanley dot com backslash G

S E. Now back to sports business radio with Brian burger. I am at the Mecca of college basketball right now Duke University. I am so excited to be joined. I'm going to be by Rachel Baker who is the general manager of Duke Men's basketball. Rachel, thanks so much for having me here on campus. What a beautiful school. Beautiful facility here that you have. And I'm excited

to have this conversation with you here today. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you for asking me to do this. I'm excited as well. All right. So I like to start kind of at the beginning. Our audience loves to know the career path of our guests. So let's start with college. You went to LaSalle. You played lacrosse. Yes. How did that get you interested in

being a student athlete? I think I won't bore everyone with too much of my life story. But I think I have to start a little bit before that. Because although I was a lacrosse player, basketball has always been my whole entire life. My dad was a college basketball coach. So a lot of my first memories are in gyms. We were in Jersey, California, Cincinnati, back to

New Jersey. And I always wanted proximity to this sport. I was very good at it. And so that's what I always knew that having sport being a part of your life and being an athlete. I'd never thought about college without playing a sport in college. Which so happened that the one I was best at was lacrosse. So I ended up at LaSalle. It was my only

offer and I took it. But I went to LaSalle, played lacrosse there, and the great thing about ending up not only at that school, but in Philly's, which is one of the better sports. I was a lot of the best sports in the world. I had a lot of opportunities from an internship perspective. I would just school for communication. I wanted to be on TV. I

tell this story a lot. But the only women I saw at and around sports were mostly on TV. So I thought that was my only shot at it. And but my first internship was actually in PR. I worked at a movie, a promotional movie, PR firm and Philadelphia. I was a little bit more interested in the film. Which worked out because my next internship was in

PR at the Sixers. They were only hiring PR interns during the lockout year. So I was lucky enough to do that. Went through a new ownership group. And then the season started back up. And I was the only extra hands available. So I did stats on my lunch break with Harvey Pollock. And I'd go to, with the community relations group to local schools in the afternoon.

I was in game night, things with PR at night. So I got to see all the different things that go into running, running a sports franchise. Well, great experience. You know, I too used to be an intern long ago. And you just do anything and everything to get experience. And I want to back up. You were telling me a story before we started reporting about how

you wanted to go to Duke and play lacrosse. Yes. And now you're here. Yes. I'm going to talk about your rule here. But tell the story about what was under your pillow when you were younger. Yes. So my dad didn't know anything about lacrosse. But he happened to have a couple of relationships in college and in universities. Obviously. So we were in Boston and Duke was

playing BC. And I'm sure the only reason I knew about Duke was because of back at college basketball. Because everyone knows about, or a large majority of people know about Duke because of college basketball. But I knew that it was a school on to go to. So I met, the Duke coaching staff at their BC game. And they sent me a letter, a handwritten note to

my house. And at the time, I thought it really meant something. Now I know it was probably just something that they did with everyone that they met. I actually found it. My mom bounded recently and brought it down here to me. But I slept with it under my pillow. I swear probably every single night for about a year and a half when I finally gave up

the dream of becoming a Duke to play lacrosse. So I, I, I, gave up the dream along time ago. But I guess it was already written for me to end up here. Some out. Yeah. That's so special. We'll talk about that more in a minute. Okay. You worked at Nike. Yes. And, you know, that was very formulative for you. What did you do at Nike? And

how is that helped you in your role now? Yeah. I started. I. I had a couple internships with the in the summer with Nike's elite youth basketball group, both in the Hills Academy's and then also the lead, the U.I.B.L. and then when I graduated, the really interesting thing about working with Nike is like just the how expansive these events were, like how much they invested in

the future of these kids and how they did it. Now creative it was like my head was spinning. I just do. I wanted to be a part of it. I didn't know how. So after I graduated, I applied for gosh, probably a hundred jobs at Nike. I didn't, I really didn't care. I just wanted to be there. And then I also, I was, I was working

in a restaurant and I saved up saved my money. Float of Portland sat in the me a ham cafeteria. He mailed everyone I could. A late great friend of mine. Ron Rolley helped me out with a bunch of different information interviews. My jaw hurt at the end of the day. I swear I was talking for 10 hours, but it was everything from the philanthropic side to

basketball sports marketing to bring whatever it could be. And people were just answering my questions. They had no interest in helping me. Helping me out about getting a job. But I just learned so much about the company. I knew I wanted to work there and going to school in a place like LaSalle. You walk on and you realize when they call it campus. It's like a

coolest place in the world to ever go and make you campus. So anyways, I got, I ended up getting a role in basketball sports marketing a super administering a role working with the EYBL and its camps and clinics. Foking flights, doing some operational stuff at events. But really it was about making the experience for, for these athletes as premium as possible. So that Nike had the

best shot at recruiting, recruiting the athletes when they, they signed pro. I vividly remember there's, there's random moments in life. The other like really specific memories of and I vividly remember one day. My boss at the time calling me into his queue because he basically said, I'm going to be in a group of people. I have to be Phil Knight having office at Nike, it's in

cubes. But he calls me into his cube and he was like, I don't know what it is. I've been working for about a year and sports marketing really in the relationship business. He's like, I don't know exactly what it is. But I feel like as we're going out and recruiting and spending times with families, like, you should just go and like, I don't know, get your

nails done with. Has a woman do right. We just sit around and get her nails done. So it's like get your nails done with moms or something. And what he didn't realize he was saying, but now looking back from a women place at a unique role in everyone's lives, I'm a little biased, but everyone's lives was specifically these, these young men that we were in the,

in the world of recruiting. And what he realized was what I could contribute not only to them, but their families, their moms and really building a relationship and then also evaluating their opportunity in front of them was something that would be unique. So that really unlocked the opportunity to play more of a, what they call field rep role. And on the elite, you'd basketball side spending

time with all of the guys that were coming through and, and their families. And I was in the room when we were trying to decide who we wanted at how much time we spent with them, what our competition looked like, all of those things. And I just had so much exposure to what went into deciding who the next LeBron was, Katie was, Kyrie was. And I

just learned so much from all of the people around me. Yeah, incredible. And then you also learned how to market these athletes too, which again is, is helping you with your current job. And I think we both agree. Nike's about as good as it gets when it comes to marketing athletes and, you know, making them into superstars. Yes. Yes. Exactly. What started as, and I worked

on the relationship side, but then also with our events, it was, it was connecting with our brand marketing team, making sure we've done everything from, from events and airport hangers to laying out courts outside to whatever it may be, but really wanting to differentiate ourselves and working in that capacity, really viewing the EYBL as a business. The same way LeBron has a business. I had such

exposure to how you, you market frame identified top talent. And that what started at that, are you fast forward? I've worked on five years and I worked on Kevin Durant's business. And I think what he's done, what his team has done at 35 ventures from really looking at him as not just a basketball player, not just an athlete, but a CEO of a business. And there's

an investment side and a marketing side and a philanthropic side and all of those things and all of those pieces of his business, needing to cohesively and seamlessly connect. And keeping all of the different powers of V happy that from, from that regard, I use that every single day here at Duke. So a couple different pieces of all my experience at Nike, that is really, I

tap into every day here. What does today's athlete want, whether it's at this level or when you were at Nike, now or pro, and we're looking for a shoe deal like what specifically is today's athlete looking for? They want ownership. They want a voice. They're no longer taking the product and smiling in front of the camera. They wanted, they wanted to advocate and sell things that

they really use, that they really believe with that aligns with their values. And also they want some skin in the game. Like they want it to be, um, it's no longer just cut a check and show up. They want to really have, have their hand in, I think taking a step back, you've seen, that's what endorsements are marketing is it's, it's driving sales for, for, businesses

and they want a piece of that. Um, they've made so many different, all athletes have made so many different businesses, companies, products, relevant, um, have shifted culture around a sneaker or a drink or whatever it may be. And, and the future of that is, is ownership and, and all of that, those sales that you're driving. So speaking of the future, this job that you have here

at Duke University is, trailblazing. There are not GM's of basketball, men or women. And there's really not women who are GM of men's basketball. So what you're doing here, Rachel is super impressive. Um, how did this come to be, whether it was you being here or John Shire, the head coach saying, you know what, we need GM of men's basketball. Um, I will give all the

credit to coach Shire, this is his brainchild. Um, we had been in the same, same working circles for probably five or six years, but I wouldn't say we were close. We'd catch up, but he was paying attention to kind of what I was doing from a relationship perspective. And he always says that when he first got the job, he started with who and then he started

thinking about what, um, and he didn't know the first time he called me it, it exactly what the role was. He didn't know exactly what we were going to do. I would call it, he just was just saw what I could contribute to the program and really wanted me to be a part of that. The way I view this role, the way he kind of started

communicating it was that. Pusel looking for a right hand from a business perspective. Um, he has some of the best instincts I have ever been around from a basketball perspective, but in terms of the business of of what we're doing. And I really do think that. If you make it as simple as possible, we're in the business of recruiting everything we do from our creative team,

our game day experience. And I am, um, marketing, like all of that is about recruiting the top talent to a national championship. So, um, he, it, it, it, all of those things combined, like looking at what that role could look like, what turned into general, being a general manager, the thought of being the general manager at what one of the most storied programs in college basketball.

And then on top of that being a black woman, it's certainly not an opportunity that that I take for granted. But it was, it was all, it was all his idea. That's amazing. So NIL has changed everything. Yes. Right. Um, what are you doing here at Duke with the players to help them identify the opportunities that are available and be like become owners is part of

what you were just talking about a few minutes ago. Yeah. It's far less identifying opportunities and far more evaluating the opportunity. And I think that's the way I'm going to say it. I think it'll change every single year. Um, we have 15 guys, 13 scholarship players and, um, 12 of those 13 have agents. So yes. 12 with the 13th scholarship players at Duke have a. Yes.

Yes. Wow. Um, in that something that two years ago, the concept of that would have been unbelievable. And at the beginning of the year was six. And we're like, Oh my God, six guys have agents. And now it is 12. So it's only going to continue to move in that direction. So we do. Um, what I do is really sit down with them and is this

the right opportunity? Does it make sense for you? Is there a way to make it make sense for you? And then also when we're agreeing to it, how do we make the deliverables as premium as possible? Um, because the one thing that NIL has done, it's kind of a two. Two headed monster in the way that on one side, it's taken off so much pressure. Um,

the fact that you such a delicate that the time for basketball, I think that the couple of years you spend here for top talent is, it's really delicate. Period. So it's a great opportunity to have a good time for them. It's like you're so, so close to success, but you're not there yet. And for as many stories of, of all stars that have come through here,

there's plenty of stories of those that it hasn't necessarily worked out. So it's expediting that that experience you can do things like pay off your parents debt or, and that's what our guys are doing with their money. It's it's buying their mom their first house. It's not the, we don't have any lambo's on campus yet. Um, and I think that that, that does alleviate a lot

of the pressure for them. But then you're going to one of the hardest schools academically in the country. You're playing your sport in front of millions of people every single day. And then you want me to beat the CEO of my own business at 18. Oh, and then there's also my social life, I think, and family and all the pressures that come with that. So it's

a lot of it's hard like they don't, um, getting them to show up, putting a good face and, um, and deliver deliver for their partners in a, in a really premium way. Um, it, it's challenging at times. Um, and I exist. Our creative team exists to try and make that as easy on them as possible. What about the educational part of this? And I'm not talking

about their classes at Duke, but I'm talking about educating them on the business that they're about to embark in. Um, are you doing that? Are there courses here at Duke? I've interviewed some of students, my colleagues in the last year and more and more colleges are now starting to offer courses on NIL and how you navigate that. So how does Duke handle that? Um, I may

not have had the opportunity to go here, but let me tell you I'm taking advantage of our, um, our faculty here. Um, some of we have so many resources here from, from a finance marketing, um, social perspective and, and there are some courses that are being offered to, entire student body and then there's also, um, some insight we've been able to receive from some of that,

that staff that we can really help our guys with. Uh, we also have a program here called Brother at CEO, which takes place primarily in the summer, but also extended a bit into the fall or bringing people in. We're bringing special special specialists and to be able to, to teach them about, um, the, the financial component of, of what they're embarking in, um, how to think

strategically about some of the, the decisions they're making. What I've learned about them is real life examples. There's the best way to break through them. You can breach an egg of jakey and send articles, but it's like, hey, this athlete did this and it resulted in that and this athlete this, did this and it resulted in that. And they're like, okay, I get it now. Now

it makes sense and you can, um, or they'll see will, we'll do, we'll educate them on all the different things about how social works or doesn't work. And then, um, they'll do the thing you told them not to do and they see the, the result of it and they're like, okay, I get it. I remember what you were saying. Um, I was working with, you tell

them so much about the importance of, uh, brand alignment and, and they're NIL deals and really understanding the importance right now of making sure that, that what you're doing feels really authentic and how it takes a lot out of you to do things that don't feel authentic. Um, and you can say that and then they can do the deal that doesn't feel, isn't a product they

use and doesn't feel good and they come back and, um, they're like, okay, reach, I get it, never again. So sometimes they just have to kind of experience it on their own, but we spend a ton of time on, on education and giving them all the resources of the NCAA allows us to. I mean, I just didn't hear more about brotherhood. Yeah. I mean, I think

of like JJ Radack who also has a great podcast. Yes. Old man in the three, give it a plug. Um, also, uh, you know, great hill. I've met him. He's part owner of the Atlanta hawks. You have some incredible lungs that played within the Duke basketball program. Are you able to have those alums? Sometimes share their wisdom with your current players all the time. I mean,

that's what they sell, right? That's the brotherhood. The fact that Doree can, Doree quite it can have have an injury and then Grant Hill can come to practice and talk to him about all the things that he did to overcome his injury. And then Doree goes out and plays on Tuesday and thinks about those things and text grant after and says thing. Like, that's exact, and

there's some one, um, one degree of separation between any athlete or any, any guy that's come through this program for anything they want to do. I mean, that's the. Not to give our secrets away. That's the sell. Like when you're recruiting, when you say, like, do you want to work in finance or real estate? Or do you want to be an NBA all started? You know,

in a national championship or you want to win an NBA, whatever you want to do, you want to be a head coach somewhere. There's someone that's done those things and really tapping into that network is, is completely invaluable. So walk me through when you're recruiting a player, um, what's that conversation like about this is what we can do better than anyone else and you just hit

on part of it, right? The brotherhood, the network. And then, you know, I've worked with pro sports organizations and a lot of times at the beginning of the year, they sit out with the player and they're representative and they say, all right, what are the goals for the year? What does this year look like in the community with your sponsor deals with your social media? Is

that going on here? I would imagine. Yeah. Well, we do on the front end is try and learn as much as we can about our crew. Every thing, it's not one size fits all at all. And we learn and learn that really early on. There's some, there's, there's one of our guys coming in next year, we sat in, we did this whole creative presentation and all

the opportunity from a social media perspective and growing your followers and N I L and what we could do in the community, not a Stephanie's like, well, what if I just want to go to school and play basketball? Of course. Whatever you want. So you really understanding what it is that that each individual athlete family is looking for and then what and again, I take no

credit for most of this. I just got here. But what what coach Kang, go Chai and Duke is really created is the opportunity to create a program for anyone that wants to have this experience. And from our sports performance staff to our mental health resources for me on a marketing and an annual perspective, our creative team, whatever, whatever you want to focus on. We will lay

out a specific program that allows you to do that allows you to do that here. And again, we haven't spent a second talking about on court, but on court is a big piece of that too. Our player development program really being able to identify. Hey, these are the things that we think you can do and come. These are the things that you're doing in high school

right now that we think you can improve on to play at a high level in college and then improve on the college level to play at a high level in the NBA. So all of those things combined. And it's it's a very when we have we have guys on campus, it certainly impact a couple of days of really trying to lay out all of the different

things that all the different resources that we put together here. You're listening to sports business radio. We'll be right back after this. When it comes to your health and longevity, you hold nothing back. You understand what it means to push harder. Reach farther and go the extra mile. This relentless drive runs in your blood. That's why inside track or provide you with a personalized plan. To

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on court. Most you're you're picking from the cream of the crop when you're recruiting everyone wants to come to do. Can play the basketball. So I would imagine that most of the athletes that come through here, they do have aspirations to get to the NBA or the W NBA that next level. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Um, but everyone has a different path to get there. And I

think that's on us to be really honest because the worst thing that could happen is that our expectations and athletes and families expectations are misaligned. So that's like half a year. That's like half the battle. We think that you're this and you think that you're this and we're going to work together to get you to that point. Um, but everyone here. And then you walk the

halls and you see all other people that have done it. You don't come here if you don't want to be. Um, the best of the best. Yeah. Social media. Uh, you know, our listeners, if you're not following Duke men's basketball on social, you need to be it is so well done. You guys are on top of it. I mean, I see some accounts where, you know,

they don't post very often. They miss opportunities to engage. You guys don't miss any opportunities. You are on top of it. So how many people are on the staff here doing social. And again, I would imagine you've got the assets who are the players. You're working closely with them to try and, you know, get the stories out there as much as possible. Yeah. All the credit

to to Dave Bradley our creative director and his team. Um, we have three full time staff, um, a couple of part time staff that work on our staff. We have a lot of work to do. We have the same people who work on social teams, what are our social teams, and then, and our student interns that are unbelievable. And what, what Dave has done so well

is like he is on. Every trend at every moment and, and if you get a chance to meet him, he's always. This, like, he's very level so pies lows with the game with the season like our approach to social doesn't change. That's not only this team, but what's going on with all of our, our former guys in, in the NBA or any of their individual success

and accomplishment. So it, it's been pretty unbelievable. And then we have, we work really closely with our guys. We spent, Dave and I, when I first got here, we spent about an hour with each one of our guys, really trying to identify what it is that makes them different, unique, and then how they wanted to collaborate with our social media team. And what we, because the

personality is especially kind of doubling back down, I love it. The first questions that we get from any of our, from any brand partners is, is really. How many followers you, like that's the, that's the easiest way to make sure that you're making a smart investment on the brand side, because I think what we've seen in the first couple of years about I L is injuries

are unpredictable, playing time is unpredictable, transfers all of those things, but hey, how many followers you have, how many people can we reach if we have this partnership. So building that following in a really unique way that differentiates you from any other point guard across the country or shoot any point guard on a roster, because everyone's pretty high potential is the difference between making real money

in the space and not. And so we, we really do spend a lot of time with them trying to, it's, this is a really unique group of guys that we have right now, because as we were talking about earlier, you've to spend a lot of time on education. And, and for a long time, it was don't do the wrong thing. Make sure you don't say the

wrong thing. And have this ramifications, they're so conservative. They want to make sure they're so conservative. They're showing up the right way. They're so professional that some of that vulnerability that rate makes them really, that can make you really endearing to, to fans and to make them really bite. Like some of that it's pulling, it's pulling teeth trying to get a lot of that out of

them, because they're professionals. They sat down with a lot of our fresh in the beginning. And I was like, all right, politician voice off. Let's see, me and you just talk. They're so used to being on all the time. So getting them to show, but as themselves has really been what we spend a lot of time working on. When I used to do work for Nike,

and we had a lot of time, we had all America count. One of the things I would teach is a course on media training. Yes. This before social media. Yes. It was a way back in the day. And to see how sophisticated the athletes are now in high school is incredible. And, you know, in some states you've got NIL in high school now. So the level

of sophistication, I would imagine by the time they get to Duke, probably off the charts. It's Mike DeGeorge R. S. ID. When I first got here, I'm a bit neurotic. I was like, well, we should sit down and make sure they do this and say that. You'll be okay. We were out there and I was just standing and watching. And he's like, I told you, like,

archives are professional. So it's it's night and day compared to 10 years ago. When I first started doing this stuff. Coach Shire is following a legend in Coach K. So part of what I see here, the job is for recruiting whose coach Shire? And you got to get his story out. And it's not just about getting the player stories out. It's about, if I'm going to

go to Duke, this is the coach I'm playing for. And, you know, why should I play for him? And like you said, it's not one size fits all. Yeah. So as GM of Duke men's basketball, how are you getting coach Shire's story out there? And I guess how much is he willing to be out there? Cause he seems like a pretty soft spoken, understated person. Not

a lot of bravado. So it might be a little bit more bit of a challenge to go, Hey, coach, we got to tell your story a little bit. Yeah. And I think that we we certainly can do even more with that. Coach Shire is a basketball, so he is so heads down on our guys and their success and winning. And he's so humble and selfless at

a fault. Or we're like, people wanting you from you now. And he not that he doesn't want to do it. But he's being really intention a lot, making sure. That he's putting the team first always. He never wants it to be about him. But people love him and they love his family. And they want to learn more about him. So I think you'll see a lot

more of that moving forward. But like you said, it's, it's identifying and letting the world know what his brand is. He's players first always. And he are group texts will be going on any minute. He's not here watching Duke basketball. He's watching some other basketball game. I bless myself for dealing with all of that. But he's no any in he's really I think that that's what

people would really love to learn about of how how much time, energy and effort he pours into every single guy that comes through here. And every single play and every single sub and every single minute. Our guys are on the floor. He's really meticulous and obsessive about how that's all coming to life. But then he also has he's dangerously competitive. And this is how I would

put it about every and anything. Everything is a competition. Everything is trivia. Everything is showing that he knows a more about some subject better than you may, which is, which is really fun to be around too. So he has a he has a fun side. He has a playful side. But he's super hyper focused on these guys in this team. It's really interesting to me. The

comparison I would make. So I'm friends with Eric Spolstrom. Yes. He was handpicked by Pat Riley to succeed. And a lot of people were like, wow, we thought it would have been a more seasoned coach. No, Pat Riley saw something in Eric Spolstrom. He's the guy to succeed me. Looks like a genius now, right? Coach K. Pick coach Shire to succeed him. Sometimes the best person

to pick the successor as the person who's been sitting in the seat for many, many years. But it says a lot about coach Shire of all the people that have come through, you know, the brotherhood here. John Shire is the one that coach K said, this is the guy that needs to succeed me. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's the thing that I'm going to say.

Again, Coach K. Pick knows him better than anyone. Definitely knows him. And having coached him and then a coached alongside him. He certainly saw something in him. And I think the other component of it was from a relationship perspective. No one does it better than John Shire. He stays in touch with more people in a day than I could probably say over a week or so.

And it's because he's always learning. He wants to learn about you. He also wants to learn what you know because he understands that there are things. There are ways in which he can benefit from any interaction. And so when you talk to him, he's really talking to you. He's locked in on you and who you are. And I think that that goes a really long way

from not only a recruiting perspective, which is really important, but from a coaching perspective. And building trust with with our guys and really getting them to buy in on him and his vision. Sports is very copycat, very copycat like more than any other industry. Are we going to see do you think? More positions like yours because I can see GM's of basketball. I can see GM's

of football. Yes. I can see GM's of women's sports. Are we going to see more of this again? That's why I said at the beginning, I think this is a real trailblazer job that you have here. Yeah. I've seen it pop up a couple places since I started. Both then and I've seen it on the football side. But before I did more from a recruiting perspective,

I think the difference is, and this is something coach, and I spent a lot of time talking about before I accepted the role. It's not just about one thing with me. And I think what I can contribute to the success of this program is, isn't exclusively NIL or isn't exclusively marketing, but really the full. And as we come going for a successful circle, as we talk

about what players are looking for, they want this 360 holistic development program. And I think really looking at my past experience and how this that's really led me to be able to add to Kate for our guys, strategize and think creatively with our guys. And then the one thing that I think is lost, but probably the most important thing is support them unconditionally. And because that

right there, and I learned that from someone very early on and how she dealt with the role that she had. It's like knowing them knowing that regardless of they had a 30 point game or a two point game, I'm going to show up the same with them every day. And I'm invested in what I'm doing. Whatever future they have on or off the court, I think

that that can a lot of times be the difference between being successful or not. So it's funny. You mentioned that. So the number one thing I've seen evolve in the last two years at the pro and the collegiate level mental health. Yeah. Everyone has programs in place to deal with the mental health of their athlete to specially the collegiate athlete. Yeah. Because they're not is. Evolved

and developed as the pro athletes. What are you doing here at Duke to help the athlete with mental health? Yeah. We have a bunch of different resources. We have a departmental resource here. I think I believe we have three different. Full time mental health professionals here at Duke that all of our guys have access to. And we've also brought in some some outside resources that that

work with the NBA and MVPA because. Mental health is in one size fits all either and what I've learned having having been in therapy for a very long time is that it really depend. There's the biggest thing, especially when you talk about 18 year old men, the biggest thing in getting them to buy into not only needing it, but then using mental health resources is a

level of comfortability and trust, which means that. One person showing up and saying, Hey, I do this for you come sit with me. Let's talk about it. Isn't going to work. So based on different situations we've been able to bring in different resources that specialize. And anything that they're that they're going for going through and sometimes you have to charge a horse at a little bit,

but they they know that it's very easy to identify when when one of our guys is going through something and then being able to help them through that is is certainly part past the battle here. All right, just a couple questions left. The Cameron crazy. I mean, I'm on campus here and I walk up and I see feskyville and I see the tents and. I had

always thought that it was like survival of the fittest you got. I can't about put your tent out there and whoever can stay out there the longest eventually gets tickets. Well, I learned today there's like quizzes. There's tent checks to make sure you're in tent. Like there's a whole nother layer of, you know, getting into Cameron indoor stadium to watch the Duke basketball game. I don't

know that I've ever seen any pro or collegiate team where the fans are his rabid as they are here for Duke men's basketball. Yeah, it's unbelievable. We're so. We're so lucky to have have the crazies and all the credit to Debbie Shoshesk Shoshesk and Megynar scene our marketing department. I've never seen anything like it. So yes, there were 1700 students that took a I think like

30 question test on the floor and Cameron right now. The one I have her women team and the questions were everything from what. What did Ryan Young major in at Northwestern to what is. J Lucas's favorite ice whatever. And the top 800 students that answered those questions correctly and willingly you took a test to agree to sleep outside for two weeks, which is the unbelievable part

of it. Rain, sleet and snow. And then I think that there are some there's different colors of tent. I'm new to this. So I'm still figuring out there's different colors of tenting and some people aren't out there as long and there's a a scavenger hunt for the late tenors to show up. So it's not. It's a well-willed machine. The Cameron craze of a business of their

own. Going outside of a lot of what we do. But when you have to earn the right to watch a game, you don't sit. Yeah, you don't stop yelling. You are in vet. So it's this really beautiful thing that that coach Kay and W have created where they're just as invested in our successes. We are like it's not even. Bands can act like they care. The

craze is at earned it. So they are just in as invested in successes as everybody. So it's really fun to be around. One of the young women I spoke with today who's out the tent said, you know, my mom went to Duke. She tented. She told me I need to tent. So I was like, okay, this is funny. Like your parents are saying, you got a

tent. You got to sleep outside for a couple weeks and earn the right to go in and watch a game at the Cameron indoor. Yeah. That's the beautiful thing about coach Kay and his legacy and his family and everything they brought to do basketball that consisted. And so the fact that these traditions have happened and you know what they are. And that's the price of entry

here at Cameron. So it is what it is. Last question for you. You know, again, this is a trailblazing job. You've got a really fantastic resume. Do you ever look ahead and think about this where I want to be in five years? Maybe it's still here and you know, evolving this program. Maybe your commissioner of a league. And one day, like, do you ever allow yourself

to say, this is kind of where I want to go in the future. Any job I've ever had. I didn't, yeah, either didn't know existed. I didn't think I could do or some combination of those two things. So when you think about exactly what the job is, I couldn't say exactly what the job is, but I know that my future all whole, some version of helping

influential athletes contribute to society in a meaningful way. At a team, I think it could be in the representation space. But I just know that the there's always going to be a role for someone that is willing to think creatively and strategically about the way, because that's the way they're thinking and that's what their expectations are. So working with with athletes, men and women and how

they're navigating the space. It'll certainly be something in that realm. Well, and from the people that I've spoken to about you before. We met today, like one of the things they say is that you genuinely care. And then I think that's a wonderful trait. Because if you're working with these elite athletes, they want to know that someone genuinely cares. They're not caring because there's an agenda

behind it. You genuinely care. And I think that speaks real highly of you. Thank you for better for words. I certainly always. I don't know if it's yeah. And and I think that that's as a woman as a woman in this space. I learned very early on that my approach could be like any of the approaches that I saw around me. They do not care what

I think about how they're dribbled up all the basketball court. And I think what I saw is that kind of like I said before, caring, showing up unconditionally. And really genuinely wanting what's best for them and their families in their future is kind of in my guiding principle in in this world and sort of doubt okay so far. I think it's worked out really well. Rachel

Baker general manager of Duke Men's basketball. Congratulations on this role. Continued success to you. And thanks for joining me on sports business radio. Thank you. This episode of sports business radio is brought to you by Underdog Fantasy. The fastest growing fantasy app ever released and the official gaming partner of sports business radio. And with early investors like Mark Cuban, Kevin Durant, Adam Shafter and Jared Goff.

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