Buffs WR Shenault Attends NCAA Elite Student-Athlete Symposium
March 07, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. was one of 30 football players from around the nation who recently participated in a three-day Elite Student-Athlete Symposium, conducted by the NCAA.
The program, created in 2017Â by the NCAA's national leadership development staff, is designed to help players who could be high-round picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. The focus of the event is to help student-athletes prepare to navigate the next 12 months of their lives as the prepare for the possibility of being selected in the draft.
The NCAA also conducts a similar symposium for basketball players.
"Basically, it just talked about the process of making sure I'm making the right decision if I want to declare (for the draft)," Shenault said. "We talked about the process of finding an agent, finding financial advisors, how to deal with the money involved, how to budget, and how to prepare for life after football. It was really good — a lot of stuff that you don't think about."
Shenault will be a junior next fall and has two years of eligibility remaining. But after a sophomore season in which he vaulted into the national spotlight as one of the nation's top receivers — he led the nation in receptions per game, averaging 9.6 — he will no doubt be a candidate for early entry into the 2020 draft.
Shenault was accompanied by CU associate director of compliance Kevin Prochaska.
"It was one of the best educational opportunities the NCAA presents for student-athletes and staff members," Prochaska said. "The amount of information they shared and the practical experiences from people who have been through that journey, been in their shoes and done what they will be doing, was outstanding."
Many of the players there will be seniors next fall, but there were also a few who could be early-entry players.
"It was really eye-opening stuff," Shenault said. "When I got there, they said, 'If you are here, you are a potential first-round pick.' They talked about a lot of things that I'd never really thought of. It was information that will be really helpful."
Prochaska said the symposium covered a wide range of topics that included not only what is directly ahead for the student-athletes, but also how they should begin preparing for life after their playing careers are over. Former players, representatives from the NFL Players Association, financial experts and NCAA administrators were among those who gave presentations.
They discussed everything from how to build a personal brand, how to handle finances, how to pick the right agent, how to pick the right financial advisor and how to correctly use social media.
"They stressed that you are the CEO of your business," Prochaska said. "You are the leader of your brand and you create that brand on the field, through social media, through your interviews — all those things. They talked about how to select the right financial advisor to work for you, how to select the right agent to work for you. They didn't recommend names, but they said, 'Here are the questions you need to ask.'"
Money — how to handle newfound wealth and how to make sure it lasts — was obviously a centerpiece topic.
"There was a lot of discussion about that," Prochaska said. "How do you plan to have this kind of money and how do you make it last? They stress how short the typical NFL career is — three years. A lot of times, within a couple years, a lot of these guys have spent a lot of that money.
"And, they talked about the real dollars. The public sees the contract number, but here's how it actually plays out after taxes, agent fees, all those things. When they get that money, they can all of a sudden become the financial patriarch of a family, and it's important to know how to deal with that role in life."
Shenault said many of the topics simply reinforced his thought process when it comes to preparation.
"I think it was a good thing for the NCAA to do, but I also think we should go into that stage knowing some of that stuff," Shenault said. "You should do some of your own work and know some of those things when you get there. The way I was raised, you have to see the future and speak to its existence. My roommate, K.D Nixon, we have been thinking about some of those things already. You do your best to prepare and try to be ready for every moment and opportunity that comes your way."
Another goal of the symposium is to provide future resources for student-athletes.
"It was a lot of people who have been down that road sharing their expertise," Prochaska said. "It gave the young men a resource. They have all those people's information, and they can reach out to them in the future and ask questions. They can get advice from people who have been through it."
The symposium also stressed the importance of obtaining a degree. Life goes on long after their playing days are over.
"One of the resounding messages was that as important as the green paper is, it's the parchment paper that's going to help you succeed when you're done playing," Prochaska said. "Even if you have a 10-year career, you're done in your early 30s. What do you do from that point? How do you position yourself to prepare for life after football? They really stressed that. How do you set yourself up academically and what resources are you developing along the way to make sure you can make that next step a successful one? That's a question most young men in their position don't think about, and they really stressed how important that is."
The symposium was conducted at the same time the NFL Draft Combine was being held in Indianapolis. That was another teaching moment, Prochaska said.
"They told the young men what to expect from that process," he said. "The interviews, the questions they will hear, what NFL teams will do to find out as much as they can about them."
When Shenault left for the symposium, he wasn't sure what to expect. But now, he said, he can share the information with his teammates.
"My teammates were asking what I was going there for and I really couldn't explain it," Shenault said. "But now I can pass some of that knowledge on to them, and hopefully it will help them, too."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
