Jay Wright stresses importance of financial literacy in NIL era of college sports to Villanova athletes

With college athletes eligible to earn money from their name, image, and likeness, Villanova wants to make sure that its students know what to do with it.

The Friends of Nova NIL collective hosted an event with UBS, a financial services company, and Jay Wright to teach Villanova’s athletes about financial literacy, including how to invest and budget for the future.

It was a far cry from the Jay Wright financial literacy conversations of old, he joked.

“I was always the one to tell them, no debt,” Wright said. “When you’re in your NBA career, your European career, don’t finish your career with any debt. I used to drive that home, drive them crazy with that. Now it’s on a whole ‘nother level, because they’re making a lot more money, especially while they’re in college, and there’s a longer term plan. We’ve taken my little personal, like father-figure, advice, and we’re taking it to another level.”

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With the advent of NIL, athletes no longer need to avoid Villanova boosters and alumni until graduation, Wright said. Now, they can establish those relationships with the alumni network right on campus, which can potentially lead to future job opportunities down the line.

“One of the best assets we can give our student-athletes is the relationship with these alumni,” Wright said. “They’re great people, successful people, they’re high character. Part of the NIL program is not just them receiving money from their name, image, and likeness, but developing relationships with business people who are Villanova alums who could provide opportunities for them while they’re in school, and also after they graduate.”

Friends of Nova president Randy Foye, who played at Villanova from 2002 to 2006, didn’t learn much about financial literacy until he was 24 and in the NBA, where he had an 11-year career. In his new role, he wants to fill in the gaps for Villanova athletes, and create a program similar to the NBA’s rookie transition program.

Friends of Nova partnered with Adewale Ogunleye, the head of sports and entertainment for UBS, to discuss financial literacy and provide a networking event with UBS employees. Ogunleye, who played 11 NFL seasons for the Bears and Dolphins, is a former All-Pro NFL defensive end who played his college ball at Indiana.

He, too, is striving to fill in the gaps he noticed during his college and NFL years. His peers, many who made far more money than him, would spend recklessly, leaving them with nothing after football. Now, with NIL, the scope of Ogunleye’s role is expanding further.

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“We’ve got to go younger, we have to start doing things on the high school level, because even in some places high school athletes are getting NIL deals,” Ogunleye said. “We waited until their senior, junior years in college, but now it has to be soon as they come through the door, because they’re all making money. There’s going to be issues, whether it be legal, taxes, that these players need to understand.”

For Wright, it’s a look into a different side of his former players. In his role as special assistant to the president at Villanova, he spends more time on campus with student athletes, faculty, and the student body as a whole and less time solely with the men’s basketball team. Building programming for student athletes provides a new avenue for him to connect with the Villanova basketball alumni.

“Watching them now, this makes me feel even more connected to them than in a way when I was coaching, because I’m really providing a lot more life lessons for them,” Wright said. “It’s interesting to talk to these guys, like Eric Dixon, about financial things and where he’s going on his vacation all summer, because he can afford going somewhere other than just going to the Jersey Shore with his classmates. It’s a whole new world.”