Louisville Men’s, Women’s Basketball Enjoy Financial Presentations
April 07, 2016 | General, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball
The Cardinals’ men’s and women’s basketball players took part in a workshop with Morgan Stanley.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville athletics department constantly is taking steps to ensure its student-athletes are set up for success – both during their time in school and after graduation.
On Thursday, the Cardinals men's and women's basketball programs enjoyed hour-long presentations from representatives of the Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment group, accompanied by NBA champion and three-time All-Star Antoine Walker, during Financial Literacy Month. The demonstration was set up as part of the LCare Student-Athlete Development Program.
Both teams were shown a short video at the beginning of the event, detailing Walker's professional success and quick rise to stardom. It detailed his NBA career and how he went from signing lucrative contracts that amounted to more than $110 million to ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 2010 for reasons that included spending habits, the pressure to take care of family and friends, and investments.
Following the video, Morgan Stanley Financial Educator Aaron Harding provided the student-athletes with information on the predictable saving and spending natures of a person over their lifespan and how to avoid a financial pitfall. Harding also discussed valuable topics that current affect student-athletes, including savings and use of funds from the NCAA Cost of Attendance legislation.
The interactive session featured student-athletes serving as volunteers for different activities, including one that demonstrated the need of properly budgeting money.
"It was a great presentation that really showed our student-athletes what they need to know to prepare themselves financially for the future," women's basketball head coach Jeff Walz said. "This is a seminar that we didn't have back when I was in school, and I really believe it would've been a valuable asset back in those days to understand the importance of saving money, having an emergency fund, and paying off debt. It's things you don't think about in your early years of college because you don't realize how fast those four years go by, and then you're out in the real world and you have to support yourself – paying off college loans and car payments."
After enthusiastic contests that tested knowledge gained from the sessions, Walker shared his experiences and advice with both teams and encouraged the student-athletes to take advantage of their current resources and be careful with their money.
"One of the things I'm most proud of with coach Pitino is the way he runs his program and his constant desire to educate our student-athletes on and off the court," men's basketball associate head coach Kenny Johnson said. "These guys have heard (financial advice) from coach Pitino directly, but it's always great to have an outside source to provide them with such knowledge."
