On Wednesday, the Rice University Sport Business Alliance (RUSBA) toured the Toyota Center and met with executives of the Houston Rocket’s basketball operations department.
In this unique experience, students met and talked with Sam Hinkie, Vice President of Basketball operations; Gersson Rosas, Vice President of Player Personal and General Manager of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers; and Phil Jabour, Personnel Video Coordinator. These offered the RUSBA members insight into how they were able to accomplish what they have, information about drafting pro players, as well as offer a few tips for getting into the sports industry.
During the tour, the students were given the privilege to stand on the court, see the locker room, the NBA draft room, and see the inside of Head Coach Rick Adelman’s office. All the while, learning about the little choices done behind the scenes to make things run smoothly in basketball operations.
RUSBA is a student-run organization whose mission is to create awareness and valuable opportunities for the students of the Sport Management Program at Rice University. The Rice University Sport Management Program currently has eight interns with the Houston Rockets, and one full time employee.