The Jim Jackson Show: Michael Haddix Jr.

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That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash listen and use code listen at checkout. What's up peeps? Welcome in. It's the Jim Jackson show here. Hey, listen, I got a special guest today. I wanted to step away from the pro ranks a little bit and talk a little bit about college, student athletes, NIL, and that's the world that we're living in right now, especially if you are listening out there or watching out there. You have a student athlete that's playing the NIL is a big issue and Michael Haddix from Scout is going to entertain us, talk to us, educate us on what his programming is, what his company is all about, educating young student athletes and their families on financial literature. So stay tuned for that.

You can also follow us and catch this Jim Jackson show, Instagram, YouTube, the Jim Jackson show, Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcast. It's going to be a great conversation today. And as I think about it, too, and you know, the college world of of being a professional athlete, now you're going to be a professional athlete. That's that's basically what's happening is that now you're going to have certain requirements is not there yet. But with these student athletes, I don't know if they're ready to really fully understand and their parents what that means. You sign that contract for seven hundred thousand, eight hundred thousand, five hundred thousand guaranteed money. They're going to expect you to perform.

And if you don't, there are consequences on the back end. And I don't know if that part is being emphasized enough to these student athletes and their parents or whoever is, you know, really the guardian in their life. And that's something that, you know, I think Mike and I will really talk about and dive into. But on a different subject, this, you know, this NBA thing is jumping off really good right now. It's it's interesting because at the beginning of the season, we all put our top of the list charts, like of teams that we feel will navigate their way through and get to a championship. Who to watch for, who to look out for.

And you always have some surprises. Now, injuries play a huge role. And right now, if you look at the standings and shout out to the Cleveland Cavs, man, Cleveland Cavs right now, 4-0.

We always knew they were a good team. I think the difference with this team this year. Kenny Atkinson won, coach, and I hate that bigger staff was fired from there. But it seems as though the move and the transition is is beginning to pay off right now. Again, it's early season, so they're not winning the championship today. But it's something different about this team. They're one of the few teams that have been together for a little bit more time, kind of like the Celtics.

So they have a little bit more continuity. I also believe that Darius Garland is playing and having much more of an impact. He's more comfortable in his role, but also to having the conversation of Donovan Mitchell potentially leaving, going somewhere else.

That's been put to the side because of his contract deal. So everybody's kind of fitting into their roles as more of a comfort zone. And as a result, the Cavs are playing outstanding basketball. They have bigs, they have guards, they have a bench, and they have a coaching staff right now that I think the total, the roster really believes in. So shout out to Cleveland. Also shout out to OKC. This young team we had a high expectations for. We knew that they would be right there in the mix. Is this a year for them to win the championship game?

We got a long way to go. They're 4-0. The beauty I love about this team is this. With young players, you want to come into the league and you want to establish who you are.

I mean, you really want to show that you can prove that you can be one of the better players in the league. But with this team, it's like everybody understands kind of their role. They've been a star in their role. They understand that Shea Gilders Alexander is kind of the guy. That Chet Holgren is right behind him. Jalen Wilson is right there with them.

But everybody just falls, Lou Dort falls in line to what they're doing. I think with Hardenstein and also Addis Caruso, that just adds a veteran presence and a little bit more grit to what they're doing. So shout out to OKC for kind of building that.

Now, the question is going to be this long term. With the way the CBA works, are they going to be able to retain a lot of that young talent? You know, another year or two, I know the cap goes up because of the new media deal. But trying to pay all of that young talent is going to be a challenge.

The way the CBA is set up and the way that second apron is set up with regards to going over that second apron and paying for that penalty on that and being restricted in some other areas. So shout out to OKC. Boston, 4-1, they took a tough loss. This was last night against Indiana.

But I do expect Boston to be there. But the thing that really got me this week, really happened I think last week was up in Philadelphia. And it's the whole Joel Embiid saga that's going on. And I'm going to preface my point by saying this is that a lot of times organizations, well a lot of times, they have more inside information.

They know what's going on more so than anybody else. So a lot of the information that they let out sometimes won't be all of the information, which is the case with Philadelphia and Embiid's injury. And hence is why the NBA did an investigation into those statements that were made by the Philadelphia 76ers about Embiid not being able to start beginning of the year. And the question goes back to, OK, so what happened in between the Olympics and the beginning of the season?

Did he have a setback? Was the injury much more than what they let on? And as a result, the NBA came in and said, you didn't give us the full diagnosis to that injury and you're being fine. So obviously there's something more there with Joel Embiid that they did not disclose or want to disclose. Again, teams don't want to put out a lot of information at the beginning of the year like that.

Listen, they got to sell tickets, you know, season tickets to the ticket holders, to the suite holders. So they're not allowing that information to come out until a lot of that is solidified. But also, too, I think a lot of this falls on Joel Embiid for being a little bit more mature from this perspective. He came out and said that he doubts if he plays in back to back games.

I mean, you can't say that. This is my opinion because the ramifications on what that have, not just physically on the team, because you change the dynamics and how you play. This league is all about continuity. This league is all about camaraderie. When you play, especially when you have new players on the roster, that's when you grow together. Look at Boston. It took Boston five years of going through a lot of stuff. Eastern Conference Finals, reiterations of the coaching staff, you know, but also some players to finally get a championship.

But the core group had to play together. And I know a lot of talk around the Philadelphia area, whether that's talk shows or through the fan base, has been we need to preserve Joel for the playoffs. But yet and still, you can't diminish having a new roster and being able to gel and be on the same page and develop continuity by playing 40, 50, 55 games, 60 games with that new group in order to be able to compete in a seven game series in the playoffs. And that's what you can't discount. I think at times by using the we need him for the playoffs excuse, you discount the time that you need to spend to develop that chemistry during the course of the season.

And that's what's being lost. I love Joel Embiid. I hope he's not injured to the point where we're talking about coming back in January or February, because to me, you want the best players on the floor because when you have that, you have the best product on the floor and now you have a level of competition that everybody can enjoy. Whether you're a six year fan or not doesn't really matter. You want to see the best play.

But what's going on in Philly, I think is a detriment a little bit to the league and what it stands for. Because back in the day, and I hate to be that guy that's talking about back in the day, you know, I came into the league off of a holdout with a severe back injury. But I played through it, had a brace on when I tore my ankle up, came back and played a severe tendonitis in my knee atrophy in my thigh MCL. But I didn't want to miss games.

And I think the beauty of a Michael Jordan and a Kobe Bryant, and I'm just using those two because they were iconic figures. Their mindset was this may be the only chance that a fan will be able to see me play, in particular when you go on the road. At home, it's a little different story. But when you're on the road, this may be the only opportunity for this fan to see me play it. I want to be there by hook or by crook. And now Allen Iverson was another example of that, of a player that no matter what happened the night before injury, they wanted to play.

So we're going to keep our eye on that Philadelphia situation and what's going on there with Joel and B. At your job, do you ever have to deal with a nose roller? How about a snub pulley? Well, if you're installing a new conveyor belt system, dealing with the different components can sound like you're speaking a foreign language. Luckily, you've got a team ready to help. Grainger's technical product specialists are fluent in maintenance, repair and operations. So whenever you want to talk shop, just reach out.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done. Welcome back. And as promised, a real special guest. I really wanted to hit on this subject a little bit more today from the college aspect with NIL and the ever-changing landscape. But we have Mike Michael Haddix right here, junior with Scout. And the platform itself, I think is very intriguing, not just for student athletes, but for college athletes. Also parents and families of these athletes. And Mike, thank you for joining me, man.

I really appreciate you jumping on board. And first, before we start, kind of walk me through the concept of Scout. Yeah, so being a former athlete and sort of working in this space for a long time, what I realized were athletes make money differently than everybody, right? So they make money. It's college athletes.

NIL right now, they're 1099s, right? They're making the most amount of money in their life when they have the least financial experience. And young people live on their phones. And I noticed there was nobody serving them, right? People were trying to get access to athletes. They had money on the way to go get a doctorate. They were trying to basically do the same thing for those athletes that they were doing for everybody else. And nobody took the time to think about that financial experience, the relationship with family, you know, the education needed, the tools that players needed to solve for exactly where they were in life, because they're just different than everybody else. So our thesis was let's build a tech platform that serves their exact needs and that helps guide them on their financial roadmap, whether it's taxes, LLCs, investing, saving, financial planning, right?

How are you going to help mom with her mortgage to make sure you still don't try to be a millionaire? Like things like that. Nobody was attacking because nobody, people either didn't experience it or they didn't care to help because they can make more money keeping players in the dark. So we have a tech platform that serves these needs and that is really personalized for the journey. But it sort of maps to where those players are, takes that data and guides them off of their phones. It's interesting you talk about that. And I'm going to back up just a little bit because I think it's very important that we understand your background and why it's so important for you. Your father, former NFL player in the 80s with the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers. But you yourself were a basketball player at Siena from 2002 to 2007. You got buckets too, man. You got buckets, over 1,500 points. That experience, having your father play in the NFL, but then you also not only touching campus, a college campus, but then going to play, you know, at a high level at Siena.

But then after that, you got your business degree or your business, what, your master's at Columbia? NBA. NBA.

So that, walk me kind of through that a little bit, that, having that background and how it got you to actually form and start scout. Yeah. So I think the first experience I had, you know, with my pop, right? So he played as a number eight pick in 83. He was drafted in 83. I was born in 84. So, you know, I lived through, you know, the random, Uncle Randall Cunningham, Uncle Reggie White. Oh, you had all of that?

Yeah, those are random. Randall's my guy. I'm protective every day when I'm in Vegas. He lives out in Vegas. So, yeah, so like those were my uncles.

So I was like, man, like it was a really cool experience. But what I saw a few pieces, right, when my dad stopped playing, he got cut just last year. Everybody, every NFL player gets cut. Nobody retired. They retire after you get cut.

So he got cut. I remember seeing like, OK, what does this mean? A life change, right? I think first you see sort of money change. Incomes not coming anymore. People that are in your life during that time leave.

Opportunities close and even people treat you differently. So I was like, man, like this is crazy because, you know, my dad ain't 65. He's 29. Right. And now all of a sudden he's hit the reset button trying to figure this thing out. Right. We're sort of learning together how life works. So I was like, I lived through that.

And then I saw my whole thing was like, how do you how do you help players keep that control? Right. Because it's really hard when it's over.

Right. Because all the things that you're getting, the access you're getting, the money you're making is over. So I lived through that. And when I was playing ball, I tore my Achilles right from my senior year. I had a great career, as you mentioned, like scored over 1500 points. I missed like 25 games my junior year.

I should be at 2000. But that's another story for another day. But I tore my Achilles. And then I realized in that year that I was off, it was like, man, like this thing is over.

And all the benefits you give them by the ball, like they go away. But when I was coming back the next year, it was sort of like, man, this is like this is a different feeling. And I had some friends of mine that were playing overseas at the time. And I remember you sort of chasing his dream for some money, but it's not enough money to help you out long term. It might give you a job for a couple of years. And they were coming back trying to restart their lives and financially get on track at 30.

And I was like, man, like nobody's helping players for the long run. And then I moved to New York City and I discovered investing. I didn't know finance was a job.

My parents are from Mississippi. So it's doctor or lawyer or you play ball. Like that's how people make money. And then when I met these young people in New York and they were making money in finance, I just was intrigued. I was like, I'm good at math.

Nobody told me about this job. So I ended up going to Columbia for B school and business school. What I saw there was money equals opportunities. We talk about this phrase, a generation of wealth. And it's not about, if I had a million dollars, I can give my kids some money and they're good. I saw that at Columbia because generation of wealth is like, you could open some doors.

You can show people where the finish lines could be or could be versus just having money in your pocket. And even the aspirations and goals of people in my class and the way they talked about it. I was like, man, like this isn't even in my strategy. I never heard about this stuff. And I realized a lot of them didn't look and feel like me. They didn't have my background. They didn't play ball. They didn't know anybody that played ball. So I was like, how come these conversations don't happen in locker rooms?

And even when you're playing right, there's alumni and donors out there that are successful. But you don't even know like you don't even know how to how to have that conversation. Somebody says I work in finance and you're 19.

You don't even know what that means, right? I thought it was a bank teller. Oh, you're a bank teller, right?

But I didn't know that these other things existed. So I worked on Wall Street. I was an investment banker at a place called Lazar. And then I did investment management at Goldman Sachs.

And when I was there, then it's like, all right, you're starting to pull back the curtain. You're starting to see these secrets of money, right? Money makes money.

And if you know how to make it, like it'll benefit you. And I always tell the players when I'm in the room with them, I'm like, listen, it ain't about working harder. Unfortunately, it ain't just about being smarter. You've got to know the rules of the game.

If you know that, you'll put yourself ahead. And so I was like, let me take this stuff and serve athletes. And prior to starting Scout, I was doing financial advice for pro athletes with some great clients, Chris Paul, Derek White, guys who were clients, great friends.

But I just wanted to help more broadly. So I was like, listen, Chris and Stephanie, they're great, right? They have a lot of money, right? They can make a couple of million dollar mistakes. But if you are a college athlete and make a little bit of money over three to four years, right?

That's your chance. And if you mess that up, it ain't going to come back if you ain't going pro. So then that led me to like, let's build a system in place. Put a system in place for these players, knowing that this head start can save their lives, can change their lives, can change mom and dad's lives if you do it right. And if you emphasize, like, it's funny, Bruce Pearl, Auburn coach, he's great, they're kind of ours. And it's funny, he said something to the players when they were in the locker room. He's like, guys, what you don't realize is you have the most disposable income that you'll probably ever have in your life. College athletes are getting paid. But guess what? They got three meals that they don't got to pay for. They get snacks all the time.

You walk in the locker room, it's Gatorade, it's protein shakes, you know, everything's there. So it's like, you don't have the money to spend. You don't have to spend the money on. So if you put a plan in place, that money should last you for a long time because it doesn't have to go anywhere. It could start building for your future.

And all that led me to create this. It's funny, people said we were crazy, man. Like, what a waste of time. You know, these guys will go work with these big banks. I'm like, no, because nobody knows these players like we do. And nobody's building exactly for them. We ain't putting a basketball banner on top of our website saying, hey, now we serve basketball players.

We've been in the trenches with them and know exactly what they need. You know, it's interesting, too, because with NIL, I mean, this wave came across. And you've been in this. When NIL was first introduced, and shout out to Ed O'Bannon and what they did back, you know, 10 years ago to kind of, in plus years, to open up the doors to the egregious nature of what the NCAA did as far as name, likeness, and image. And was able to get that back and get the ball rolling. But at the beginning, it was all about, OK, a student athlete didn't go out and make money and monetize off their name, likeness, and image.

But no one saw the other stuff that came with it, you know, because now it's universities with the collective actually raising money to now pay. Just keep it real. Really, we're talking about football and basketball. I mean, are you going to have some other sports that some other athletes that do garner some gymnastics? I know the young leader at LSU, maybe volleyball, some track, but we're talking about football and basketball.

But for you, 2020, this stuff starts to roll along. NIL, you're not only educating the student itself, but in some cases, it's also the family. Why is that important as well? Yeah, so I think, you know, players look for, you know, trust is important, right? So who do you trust in this space, right?

And maybe mom or dad doesn't know finance, but you know they've been with you forever. So the big piece is when you're looking at this world of everybody wants something, everybody's transactional. All of a sudden, your number one player in the country, you decide I'm going to go to Duke or Miami or Texas, and now everybody is sort of calling and saying, hey, remember me? It's like, man, who do I trust, right?

So a lot of these things, you're leaning on players. Players come on your official business with you, those meetings with the collectives. I'm sorry, your parents come in official business with you and the meetings with the collectives, your parents are sitting in, right?

Like they're having those conversations. So our goal, we actually teach, we have a parent education session, we provide all of our clients. And the goal there is, if I could tell you anything to do, the best advice in the world, if grandma says put that money in the shoebox, you put that money in the shoebox, right? Because that's what you know, and that's the person you know that has your best interests.

So for us, it is we educate that circle because here's the other piece, right? Like a lot of times, if you get 300 grand and mom's a W-2 employee and been working at Amazon or whatever for 30 or 40 years, right? She used to get a check and taxes taken out. So when you get 300 grand, she doesn't actually know that half that money is not yours.

She's never been an independent contractor before. And she may say, hey, I need to borrow 100 grand to pay off the house. And you say, yeah, sure, but y'all both know that you actually only have 150 grand, not 300. So to get the people that you trust in your circle that know we're all rolling the boat in the same direction helps make that player even more successful. And then when people are on the same page, I think the goals are all kept in mind for any request, any conversation, anything like that.

But Mike also to now, basically, you're going to have, you know, these young men and women are going to be treated more like pro athletes. OK, but when you're talking to them, talking to their parents, do they really realize and really understand what that means? Because now there's a level of expectation that goes along with that money that comes. And I don't think at the beginning that either party realizes that. Yes, they want to go get the money grabbed real quick. It's like, OK, if you want me to come to X university, this is what's going to cost you.

I don't know if they think in their mind and realize in their mind the parents and that child, what those responsibilities are. And it's a two pronged question. How do you talk to them about the professionalism? OK, and when will we see a change where these collectives, the universities, because it's unregulated right now. I mean, what Alabama does and what USC does, Ohio State is totally different. But at some point, some people want to get a return on their investment and say, hey, listen, we're paying you all this money, but you're not performing after year one. So then unions come in and collective bargaining comes in. If you don't produce, we're going to put into the collective agreement that we can pull back some of this money. How do you talk about the total package part, not just the financial, but also that mental part of being treated like not no longer just a student athlete, but a professional athlete?

Yeah, so it's interesting, right? We get coaching sessions to all of our players, and I think you're right. I think, unfortunately, in the world that we've been in forever, it's like there was never any real consequences, right? You're the best player on the team, right? You missed practice, right?

You might run a little bit or you missed class, you might run a little bit. But there's no real consequences. Now the business has become real, right? You don't pay your taxes, you're going to jail, right?

If you don't perform, you might not be on the team next year, right? These things are starting to happen. So we try to tell them, I think the one thing is you're going to start seeing things that happen and it's on social media and people start to realize it's real. I think we've had inklings of that business idea because you look at people taking away scholarships years ago, right?

Listen, you haven't performed. We're putting you in the portal. You can transfer next year. It's been a little bit of that. But I think we're going to see some things, and you're starting to see it even, like Pat Narduzzi at Pitt was talking about, they revamped it. They ain't paying. They're doing it at the end of the year. You better perform. So I think players are going to start realizing it and sometimes, we try to tell them, but I think a lot of times you've got to touch the hot stove.

So I think we're going to see it coming and it'll be on social media and players will start to realize that this is real. For business owners like you, the American Express Business Platinum Card works just as hard as you do to help you pursue your passions. With its world-class business and travel benefits, you can get more for your business wherever it takes you. The Amex Business Platinum Card offers a flexible spending limit that adapts with your business, enabling you to flex and adapt as your business evolves. And you'll earn five times membership rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com, so that going that extra mile for your business is even more rewarding. See how the Amex Business Platinum Card gives business owners like you the tools and rewards to do more of what you love. Not all purchases will be approved, terms applied.

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Game time. Prime example, Matthew Saluca, the quarterback for UNLV. He quit the team basically because he said the collective promised to pay him like $100,000 and it never came through. Are there any safeguards that student athletes can put in that besides a promissory note, so to speak, that the university says that they're going to pay or the collective said they're going to pay, that these student athletes are able to receive the funding or the pay that they were guaranteed upon recruitment? Yeah, I mean, they said it would be the contract. I think a lot of times you got to get something signed. So, you know, most times, you know, it is a handshake deal or we're going to give you this or, you know, close selling, which I think is, you know, it works a lot of ways.

I'm offering you a scholarship. Great. I'm in with this stuff is like, you know, you got to get it written right. Right. You talk about this is a business.

Right. So if you want to be paid as a business person and then the business entity, you better make sure your business stuff is in order. So so that's I think it's got to be contracts.

Listen, when I was coming out to and I always thought about this, too, because as a and you talked about your father, you know, retiring at a young age and having to transition into real life and do something else. And we heard the horror stories, of course, about professional athletes, you know, not able to sustain the income that they received while they were playing and they're looked upon as not being intelligent. But my pushback and maybe you can help me with this is that, listen, I grew up in a family that didn't have any kind of financial literacy.

They didn't understand investment. OK, but then I get drafted. I go higher. Let's say a financial adviser, but that but they can give me any kind of paper they want. And because I don't have the literacy to understand what they're giving me, I'm like, OK, sign off on this.

And it goes and you're going to put my money here. But then that financial adviser invest my money in some other stuff that he's gaining, takes my money. But as an athlete, I look like I'm the fool, like I've blown all my money. But it's because I didn't know. So it's like if you blow your money as an athlete, you're stupid. You don't know that if you go get a financial adviser that blows your money, you're stupid. You don't know. Why did you go hire that guy?

So this is a program. This is an opportunity for these young men and women to learn right away before, let's say, the big bucks kick him out. Some guys are getting some big bucks and women in college. Don't get me wrong. But so so more so this is really preparing them for the bigger picture, too.

Not just in sports, but in life. Yeah, I understand. I say the financial industry is built on keeping people in the dark, right? If I don't teach you how things work, then I can tell you anything. You'll think I'm really smart, right? Right. I make you think it's so hard that you're going to pay me forever.

Right. The one problem I had with even financial advising the whole was it's built on making me feel like I'm the smartest person in the room. And you feel like you need me forever. I always told my clients right when I was financial advisor, you should be able to fire me at 30 years old. I could teach you. We should be having different conversations. We're having the same conversation at 30 that we did at 25.

I failed you. So for me, it's like they make it hard because the whole business is built on that. So is that part of I don't mean to interrupt. Is that part of your pitch when you go and speak with? OK, I'm I'm Jimmy Jackson, Ohio State. My son, my daughter is there about to get a lucrative NIL deal. What's your pitch to me?

Am I am I my child? So my thing is I'm going to give you all the tools to make the most well-informed decision, right? I get so we get paid by the school so the players don't even pay us anything. So my whole goal is to make sure you are as successful as possible. So we're going to walk you through what financial advisors say and what they really mean. What interest rates are, what inflation is, how you should be thinking about financial planning.

I'm going to give you all the tools so that either you're a really good client for the right financial advisor or you do it yourself. Because I always say you should not be paying for something you can do yourself. And you have one of the few unbiased parties in your life to give you the best things for you to make sure this money lasts you forever. And that means he can benefit.

He or she can benefit mom, dad, grandma and kids and everybody. So my thing is I always say like, you know, now they say like, you know, when the lights come on, the roaches scatter. So if you walk into a meeting, you know, three or four questions to ask. Guess what? If someone's going to take advantage of you, they're going to go the other way. Because you are not an easy mark anymore. And it's too much work for them. They're going to move on. And that's my whole goal. Right.

Right. And I think that's very important, too. It also, too, and I want to let everybody know, too, that part of what you're doing also with the app and with the financial literature extends to regular college students, too. It's not just a student athlete is preparing the college students that are there also not.

Do you see this in this is, you know, let's keep it real. In 2024, disproportionately how it affects African-American families more so when you see this. And I'm not saying that every white family has a financial background that prepares their child for the money they're going to make. But it tends to be statistically that they have more of a secure background in that.

So disproportionately are those more of the student athletes that you're geared towards to help because of those numbers? Yeah, I think I think the one thing is like I think minorities are under banks in general. Right. So like as well as bank institutions in neighborhoods and neighborhoods, minority neighborhoods, I think just the lesser financial opportunity.

So because of that, you're not experiencing those things in the same way that maybe some other cultures are. So. So, yes, I think we're helping everybody no matter where they are. The other piece is people have this assumption that because you got money, you know how it works.

Right. A lot of people with a lot of money still don't understand anything. So wherever you are on your journey, our goal is to help you figure it out. Your parent could be a billionaire, but that doesn't mean you have any idea how the stock market works or how taxes are.

That's why I should get an LLC. So our goal is wherever you are, we'll help you elevate and reach that next level. But it's funny, we go to a lot of schools. All those kids are smart. You know, they know this stuff.

It's like just because you go to Stanford versus you go to Auburn doesn't mean anything. You still, everybody needs some help navigating this stuff. And sometimes when you have money, you're too embarrassed to ask. I tell you what, I've been going through it myself. It's even with family, it's tough because the assumption, once you get the money, you have the answers to like all the problems.

And it's not really the case. It's like, come on, man, I just, I'm 24, 25 years old. I don't know the answers to all of these questions you're trying to pose to me or the solutions to this. It's an interesting thing, and I'm glad that I had an opportunity to catch you to learn more about Scott. I'm going to be following you a lot because I think this is something, as the NIL world continues to evolve, you know, the five years is going to be something else.

I think you need about five, three or four more years of data to understand what's working, what's not. And then you're going to have a whole shift, you know, with the Power Five schools. If they go do their own thing, that's going to shift with the TV deals, the money that's going to come in. So it's evolving, and I'm glad that there's a platform and a program out there that is geared towards really focusing in on the financial literacy of these young student athletes and their families at an early age. And if there's anything I can do down the line, brother, I know you got, you know, Vernon Davis and Chris and Jimmer for dead and other athletes involved. But to me, that's one of the biggest things that I love to do if there's anything that I can lend my hand to. I appreciate it. Well, thanks for having me.

This is great. And, you know, we're going to change the world, kind of, you know, one athlete, one team, you know, one city and one state at a time. And we love it. We love what we do. You know, we're passionate about it, and this mission is bigger than us.

We remember that every day when we go jump on those planes and then go to those towns and keep serving those people we serve. All right. Appreciate your brother. Thanks, man.

Appreciate it. The beauty about the show is bringing on guests like Michael Haddix Jr. Because you probably didn't ever hear of the name when he was playing or his father or what he's doing right now with Scott. But it's very important that we bring that kind of awareness to the forefront because this is the world that we live in. And do some more investigation on that, especially if you're involved with a student athlete, NIL, your university. Because I believe that what he's building, that platform that he's building will continue to grow and have a positive impact in that ever changing world of college.

Athletics is now looking like semi-pro. So check. So check him out. Now we get to the favorite part of my show off the court.

A couple of things that I do want to talk about. Listen, everybody knows what not everybody, but if you follow me, you know, I'm an avid cigar smoker. And I tell you, avid, I mean, diehard.

I got into it back in the mid 90s. Ron Harper, former Chicago Bull from Dayton, Ohio, was my old head. And during the time I was with the Mavs or after, I wasn't going to the playoffs.

So I would go to Chicago and hang out with Ron during that three-peat run and watch them play and go to the games and envision one day what it would be like to to be in a championship environment, hanging out with Michael and Scotty and Horace and all those guys. But the habit I picked up was smoking cigars. And I was back then I was new to the game and I figured it out. Man, why these old dudes smoked a cigar?

But I figured it out and the beauty of it. And whenever I'm out or I get texts or I get people hit me up on Twitter or Instagram, they're like, break down a cigar for me. What's the best cigar? Here's my advice to all my cigar smokers or people that are interested in cigars. The best cigars cigar you like, it's just like wine.

No matter what my palate is, you've got to figure out kind of what your palate is, what your tastes are, what you like. Is it medium? Is it light?

Is it heavy? Then you go from there. Go to an experienced tobacconist. Go to a cigar bar, cigar lounge or cigar shop that have experienced people there just like going to get wine or anything else. And you ask, OK, what about this cigar? My taste buds revolve around this.

A really good shot will point you in the right direction. But I did bring these today to kind of show you kind of my favorites. So off the top is a Hoya de Monterrey San Juan. These are Cuban, by the way, too.

That's tip of the iceberg. Bahique 56, the 52s, the 54s are really good, too. Another one of my favorites is the Cohiba 55th anniversary.

This is a really good spicy, has a little bit more peppery flavor. I love an open eagle. But I had to do that because at some point, too, I'm gonna have some people on my show and we're really going to dive into the cigar world because we got to be able to do that. So another big part about why I love cigars, man, I met some of the best people in a cigar bar. I travel across the country, I'll find a cigar bar, I'll sit and relax. And the reason why I can go do some work, I can watch a game. I can just chill.

I can read. I can let my mind run free a little bit. But I end up meeting some like minded people who I never would have thought that we had some commonality because with a cigar, unlike a cigarette or something else, or if you like to smoke weed or whatever, that's your preference. You got to sit down and have a conversation or you got to sit down for 45 minutes to an hour and smoke the cigar. And you end up engaging into a very, I would say, enlightened conversation with some people at a cigar bar. And I met some of my best friends or really good friends, business partners via the cigar.

So, again, take my advice. If you're into it, the best cigar or cigar you like, don't worry about what everybody else smoking or what the labels say. If you like a $10 cigar and that's what you like, enjoy. Enjoy. It's on you. And also find a cigar shop bar that has experienced professionals in there that can walk you through the exact make of the cigar, the aroma, the flavors, how it's built, how it's constructed.

That way, now you'll begin to learn a little bit more about the tobacco and know how to enhance your paddle a lot more. The other thing I want to talk about, too, is we're heading right now at the end of October, October 31st. And of course, it's election season. And I don't get into a lot of who you should or shouldn't vote for.

But I do say this. Your moral conscience is the most important thing that you have to follow. And a lot of times we go into voting, you got to understand the history of voting in this country, especially for minorities, when that wasn't the opportunity or when it was given the opportunity.

There were a lot of. Deterrence that were put in the way in order to vote or you were coerced to vote in a certain way. And I think a lot of times we do take it for granted because of all the rhetoric, everything that's going on in the world today. It's an ugly, ugly conversation to have when we start digging into politics. And a lot of times. We get into this situation where it's like my vote doesn't count. It doesn't really matter.

It does. And the moral conscience to me is very important. And also, too, you're voting not just for yourself, but future generations, generations behind you, for people that are struggling in the United States, that sometimes it may not benefit you right away.

May not benefit me right away. I pay a lot of taxes. A lot of people pay taxes. So should I just vote for the person that's going to.

This is just me talking. That's going to limit my tax obligations, but take away from the community that I grew up in. That's something I have an issue with. So vote your moral compass. But also to keep in mind. The local level is where you make a lot of changes. We get so wrapped up into the presidential election and all the rhetoric around it and all the discourse and all the conversation that we forget about the important part, which is the local level. The local level, you can impact change a lot quicker. Now, dealing with government and that is a little bit challenging.

We all know that there are systems in place. It takes a little time for change to happen, but it can happen a little bit more efficiently and fluently on the local level. So as much as we want to talk about making change in our communities where we live, via the presidential election, what you're going to do for me, don't forget about the most important part, which is on the local and state level. That's where you can really impact by selecting the right people that you put in office, councilmen, mayors, governors, whether that's judges, auditors, wherever it may be.

Those are the ones that really give you that direct impact. So I don't want anybody to lose sight of that because this is an important time of year coming up next week, no matter who you vote for. But take the time and do go vote. I think that's what's very important. Just my two cents. Just wanted to get that out there before we get into it.

I got a lot more I think about the system, but we'll get into that a little bit later. Thank you for joining me. I really appreciate it. Have a great weekend. I love doing this. It's been awesome. Sims Complete. Check us out on the Believe Network. Appreciate it. Just search Believe BLEAV wherever you listen.