Jahid Adam ‘18 is the recipient of the 2018 Jesse Tsu Sport Management Academic Achievement Award. The award is given to the sport management senior graduating with the highest cumulative GPA in sport management classes.
Adam will graduate with a degree in both sport management and computer science. The Vancouver native will be moving back to familiar territory when he joins Microsoft in Seattle next fall. He jumped at the opportunity to follow the sport analytics concentration when it was offered his sophomore year because it tailored to his interests.
“I’ve really enjoyed the classes I’ve taken at Rice and I’ve been proud of the work that I have put in,” Adam said. “It’s cool to be recognized for that and receiving this award is a nice cherry on top.”
Adam has enjoyed success outside of the classroom as well. He is currently getting experience with the new League of Legends e-sports team, Clutch Gaming, that is owned by the Houston Rockets.
“That’s been a really cool experience for me because [e-sports] is something I’ve always been interested in working in,” Adam said. “I’ve learned a ton and it’s been really fun work. Because of my computer science background, it set me up really well if I wanted to get back into doing something related to e-sports down the road. It’s incredibly competitive to get into, so the fact that I got into it through Rice gave me a huge leg up on other people.”
Dr. James Disch, who teaches the sport analytics classes for the department, had high remarks for Adam and his accomplishments.
“Jahid was a true pleasure to teach,” Disch said. “He took my first Sport Analytics Seminar class and did a wonderful job. He would take an idea and run with it and he took advantage of the many opportunities the department has to offer. He will be a success at whatever he chooses to do because he is honest, extremely intelligent, and a team player.”
Adam’s hard work has given him several options for his future. His main advice to underclassmen hoping to replicate his success is to find what they’re passionate about.
“Don’t get trapped within a specific field,” Adam said. “In sport management, people tend to think that they need to take any job in sports no matter what their job role is. Trying to figure out if you’re a data person, a sales person, an operations person, etc. and aiming to get as wide an experience as you can will allow you to narrow down what you like. Once you figure that out, you’ll have fun and you’ll find success.”
Matthew Rutherford, a sophomore from Dallas, Texas, is double-majoring in Sport Management and Managerial Studies