Horizons Fall 2013

36 HORIZONS After receiving his NSU degree, D’Alessandro worked for a Washington, D.C.-based sports agency. He then spent five seasons with the Golden State Warriors—three years as the director of basketball operations and then two years as assistant general manager. D’Alessandro then moved to the Denver Nuggets where he spent three seasons assisting in the development of all basketball operations’ strategies and the management of day-to-day basketball activities. He was promoted to the Nuggets’ vice president of basketball operations prior to the 2012–13 season. “My NSU education also caused me to become a more analytical thinker and to take the time necessary to under- stand and digest an issue before acting,” said D’Alessandro. He still remembers advice from one of his professors, Ronald B. Brown (LL.M., J.D., B.S.M.E.). “He told us to not simply read a sentence, but after we read it to re-read it, and then to read it once more. In following that process, he explained, we are just beginning to comprehend its meaning. Like every chapter of my career, I use the lessons of hard work, careful analysis, and open-mindedness instilled in me by my professors at the law school many years ago,” D’Alessandro said. The sports field always was the plan for Wesley Friedman (J.D., 2012). He is now a staff attorney with the Arena Football League (based in Chicago) handling contracts, copyrights and trademarks, lawsuits, and labor law. Friedman says he always knew how he wanted to use his law degree. “I was a bit different,” said the former track athlete. “I wanted to get into sports; I didn’t want to practice traditional law.” With his goal in mind, Friedman started as a summer volunteer for the Tampa Bay Storm, the arena football team. “It was a great training ground,” Friedman said. That stint led to meeting another lawyer, AFL Commissioner Jerry Kurz. “When the next summer came around, he gave me a shot at working at the league office in Tulsa, Oklahoma,” Friedman said. Then, in August, instead of returning to South Florida, Friedman took advantage of another NSU opportunity and worked for Kurz during the next semester. “I’m grateful to NSU for its clinic program, which allows you, in lieu of being in the classroom one semester, to work for a lawyer for credits,” said Friedman. “The clinic opens a lot of doors. It’s a great way to branch your- self out during times when it’s hard to get a job.” When the AFL moved league operations to Chicago, NSU allowed Friedman to finish his degree as a visiting student at John Marshall Law School in the Windy City. For Friedman, NSU’s personal touch was paramount. “The professors are willing to help 100 percent,” he said. “If you tell them you have a passion, they help you to develop it.” Friedman lists Phyllis Coleman, J.D., who teaches contract law at NSU and is an avid sports fan, as a professor who discussed goals and advised him on classes. NSU professors also helped shape the college experience of former student- athlete Emily Sisson Kelley (B.S. in finance, 2004), who played on the golf team. The Iowa native worked her way up from a part-time job at the Tourna- ment Players Club of Heron Bay while attending college to the corporate office of the PGA TOUR less than 10 years later, aided by her financial and market- ing background. When she was selecting a major, two professors at the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship encouraged her to consider a degree that had been off her radar. “Professors Charles Harrington [M.A.] and Rebecca Abraham [D.B.A.] asked if I’d be inter- ested in becoming a finance major. I don’t know if I would have become a finance major if they hadn’t encouraged me,” she said. Kelley’s current job, as director of business development for the PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties in Ponte Vedra, Florida, has a sales and marketing Pete D’Alessandro, left, general manager of the Sacramento Kings, watches the Summer League team play against the Toronto Raptors with Shareef Abdur-Raheem, assistant general manager. PHOTO: SACRAMENTO BEE /HECTOR AMEZCUA