Travis Stockbridge ‘15 has accepted the position of Basketball Operations Coordinator with the Houston Rockets. He will be working in McAllen, Texas, with the Rocket’s Development League team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The Sport Management and Statistics major interned with the Rockets every single semester of his undergraduate career at Rice and, most recently, had been working as a full-time intern with the NBA team after graduating in December 2015.
During his first year with the Rockets, Stockbridge mainly handed administrative duties, such as obtaining credentials for scouts and bookkeeping in the front office. Toward the end of his freshman year, he began getting scouting assignments, being the ‘first look’ at some players.
With a year of experience and continually growing responsibilities with the team under his belt, Stockbridge chose to return to the Rockets for his sophomore year at Rice.
“Once I got my foot in the door, it was too good of an opportunity to let it slip away,” Stockbridge explained. “They were awesome about giving me room to grow and personally didn’t hold me back. They were very open if I had questions, willing to take a chance on me, and gave me extra projects to do to have a chance to prove myself and grow.”
During his sophomore year, Stockbridge mostly helped with video scouting, but also started going to a handful of live games to watch players. That role quickly expanded his junior year, when he began viewing up to 200 games a year. By that point, Stockbridge had established rapport with his colleagues and kept proving himself as capable of handling more tasks.
“We’d established a good level of trust day in and day out,” Stockbridge said. “I was encouraged to stay there because they kept giving me more responsibilities and testing me out.”
During Stockbridge’s senior year, he grew more in the scouting role, even participating in scouting meetings to discuss players for potential trades, free agent selections, and draft picks. After graduating from Rice, the Rockets brought him on as a full-time intern.
In his new position as the Basketball Operations Coordinator, Stockbridge will work in both analytics and scouting with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Some of his responsibilities will include creating game plans with coaches and players to prepare for upcoming opponents, such as analyzing video to see their tendencies on the court.
“I’m excited,” Stockbridge said. “It’s a new role for me...I’ve been there for four years, but most of my focus has been in the front office. I’m excited to get on the court more and have a chance to grow in the profession.”
The Department of Sport Management has placed 15 students in internships with the Houston Rockets over the past year. For more information about the undergraduate Sport Management major at Rice University, visit sport.rice.edu.
Molly Mohr is an alumna of Rice University who double majored in sport management and English and minored in business.