Jaquara Anderson
Justin Saunders, a graduate student at SFA, shared his
Dallas Mavericks experience with Dr. Bond’s class.
“Through
doing that, I’ve had a lot of cool experiences,” said a current graduate
student at SFA.
Saunders will
graduate in December with an MBA. He first graduated from SFA in 2010 with his Bachelor of Arts
in Economics. After he graduated,
he received acceptance in Ole Miss and Tulane University’s MBA programs. Both
schools offered him a full ride, but Justin decided to continue his education
at SFA. Justin said the reason he
stayed here is because of his job.
He has worked on the SAC (Southern Accredited College) committee ever
since his senior year in undergraduate school. When he first took the position,
he was the only undergraduate student on the committee. When he graduated, the
committee wanted to keep him on as a graduate student
Another interesting fact about Justin is
that he has worked for the Dallas Mavericks for several years. Ever since he
graduated high school, that is where most of his time went. Justin knows the
guy who is in charge of the Mavericks basketball camps, and that his how he
obtained a position for the Mavericks.
“They
do about 20 basketball camps a year throughout Dallas, so he offered me a job
actually coaching in his basketball camps,” Justin said. He coached kids of all
ages up to 18 years old and started this position in 2006. Through this job,
Justin said he got the chance to meet a lot of players and became close with
the Mavericks mascot. Since he was close to the mascot, he got a chance to
experience what the mascot controls, which is the fan experience. The fan
experience gives fans a chance to have fun with the dunk pit and inflatable
shoe that fans can shoot basketballs in.
In 2010, Justin worked the NBA
All-Star game in Dallas at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. “Another crazy thing, is
that I was on the court holding a flag as Gretchen Wilson was singing the
national anthem,” Justin said. And during the NBA All-Star game, his locker room
was right next to the singer, Shakira. Justin said in person, she is one little
lady.
Justin
also witnessed Usher perform for the pre-game show. Justin said the stage
manager was holding a basketball, and told him that Usher wanted the basketball
to be black, so he needed to find a way to make it happen. Justin ran around the Cowboys stadium
and scrambled to find a black Sharpie to color the basketball. It took him an
hour just to color the entire basketball black. Justin found out during Usher’s
performance that all his hard work was for a few seconds. Usher held the ball
for a few seconds, and then released it to the audience.
He’s
seen celebrities from Lil Wayne to Tony Romo. Justin said “I’ve see a lot of
cool and interesting things since working for the Mavericks.
Justin has seen what some people
would pay to see, and that is witnessing NBA players crying. It was during the
2006 finals with the Mavericks against the Heat, and Justin was on the court
for the final buzzer, when he witnessed some of the Mavericks crying over their
defeat. It was an interesting experience, Justin said.
Justin is pleased with where his journey
has taken him. He grew up in a small town called Athens in Texas and graduated
from LaPoyner High School in 2006. He was a basketball star in high school. And
during senior year, he was named the Academic All-State Team, and played in two
state all-star basketball games.
After
graduation, Justin plans to move to Dallas and start his career in finance.
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