Wilmington Attorney Gary Shipman has been named as 1 of 23 NCAA Certified Agents in the country and the only NCAA Certified Agent-based in NC.
In April 2018, The Commission on College Basketball, chaired by Condoleezza Rice, suggested legislation to allow some student-athletes to hire NCAA- Certified Agents in order to better assess their professional potential earlier in their collegiate career. The NCAA adopted the legislation and following the 2018-2019 basketball season, a select few student-athletes are now able to meet with and be represented by an NCAA-certified agent without losing eligibility.
Prior to the legislation, a student-athlete was unable to hire an Agent until AFTER they had forfeited their collegiate eligibility.
“Those that aspire to play in the NBA and have the talent to do so deserve to have an agent who will be objective-based solely upon what is in their best interest and not in the agents’/families’/schools’ best interest. Many of these athletes must begin to quantify their professional prospects early in their collegiate career and many are doing do without knowledgeable or objective guidance. As an attorney who has been entrusted to assist clients in making decisions, both personally and financially, larger than any decision that an elite basketball player and his family will make, and whose roots and relationships in and outside of professional basketball have been based on the same level of honesty and commitment that I bring every day to my “job”, there’s no one more qualified to fulfill the objectives behind the NCAA basketball agent requirements than me and the incredibly talented professionals in our law firm.”
Question – “you’ve seen criticism from the Players’ Association about the NCAA certification requirements – what’s your response to that?”
This criticism doesn’t reflect the reality that relative to an elite NBA athletes’ needs, especially at the “one and done” level, athletes have been underrepresented and agents and others in the “circle” have been overpaid. Again – protecting our clients is an everyday part of what I do and what clients have entrusted me to do based upon their knowledge that for me – it’s not about me; it’s about them.”
Mr. Shipman is certified with the NCAA in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. He is also an NFLPA Certified Contract Advisor and NBPA Certified Agent. For more information, visit this link.