The ThinkND Podcast
The ThinkND Podcast
Cultivating Hope, Part 3: Champions of Hope
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Episode Topic: Champions of Hope
Listen in to a conversation with Tracy Graham ’95, Founder and Managing Principal, Graham Allen Partners, University Trustee, and Notre Dame Football Student-Athlete (1992-95), and Byron Spruell ’87 B.S., ’89 MBA, President of League Operations, National Basketball Association, University Trustee, and Notre Dame Football Student-Athlete (1984-87, Co-Captain: ’87), and Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., University of Notre Dame President, about trust, love, commitment, and being champions of hope.
Featured Speakers:
- President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., University of Notre Dame
- Tracy Graham, Graham Allen Partners
- Byron Spruell '87, '89 MBA, National Basketball Association
Read this episode's recap over on the University of Notre Dame's open online learning community platform, ThinkND: https://go.nd.edu/03bcd2.
This podcast is a part of the ThinkND Series titled Cultivating Hope.
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Introduction and Welcome
1Your Notre Dame live stream will begin soon. Thanks for watching.
Speaker 2Please welcome the 18th president of the University of Notre Dame, Reverend Robert a Doud CSC.
High School Experiences and Formative Years
Speaker 3Right. Thank you Casey. Aaron, gonna have a seat? Yeah. Well, good afternoon everyone. It is wonderful to see you all here on this, uh, cold crisp day in late January, and it's great to be together as we, uh, continue to celebrate Walk the Walk Week. This is actually the 11th year that we've celebrated Walk The Walk Week, and it's an great opportunity for us to remind each other about the importance of respecting the God-given dignity of each and every human being. Uh, it's very much grounded in our Catholic mission and so every year I look forward to celebrating Walk The Walk Week. And we're really fortunate here today to have two great champions of hope. You know that our. Forum theme for this year is cultivating hope. And here with me are two amazing champions of hope, who in so many ways embody, I think the spirit of Notre Dame. You know, um, cultivating hope means taking the challenges, the struggles, and the injustice of this world seriously. We can only be effective agents of hope if we do that. And I know that, uh, there are a lot of challenges in our world and in our country, and, uh, there are people probably among us today, myself included, who are a bit weighed down by some of the challenges that we face. And, uh, we need to take those challenges seriously if we're gonna cultivate hope. And I know that I'm with two individuals who take challenges seriously, who are very much aware of struggle, who have experienced it in their own lives, but I've also witnessed it, and that's what makes them great champions of. so I'm so grateful today to be joined by Byron Sproul and Tracy Graham, two amazing agents of hope. So I just wanna introduce them here before we begin our conversation, and I'm really looking forward to it. first of all, I wanna introduce Tracy Graham. Tracy is the founder and managing principle of Graham Allen Partners, south Bend based private equity firm focused on buying and building technology enabled con companies. Over a 27 year period, Tracy has built and operated businesses that provides strategic and operational support to a diverse and growing portfolio of companies. His current work centers on helping organizations evolve through digital transformation using data and emerging artificial intelligence tools to drive innovation and long-term growth. Tracy is deeply committed to economic development in this community and also community service. He has served on a number of boards, including Lippert components and First Source Bank, among others. He is a 1995 graduate of Notre Dame, and he was a student athlete during his time here playing football for the fighting Irish. He and his wife Curry are the proud parents of three daughters and have been consistent and really generous supporters of this university and its mission, including through Tracy's service as a member of the Board of Trustees. So Tracy, thank you for joining us here today. So grateful. Let's give a hand to Tracy Brown. Thank you. And of course, also joining us today is Byron Sproul, who serves as Presidents of League operations. For the National Basketball Association. In this role, Byron oversees critical league functions including domestic and international basketball operations, referee operations, and basketball strategy and analytics. He also works closely with the USA Basketball and International Basketball Federation to promote the global growth of the game and the development of players worldwide. Before joining the NBA in 2016, Byron spent two decades at Deloitte where he last served as managing principal and marketplace leader. He is exceedingly generous, that's for sure, with his time and talents, and he currently serves on a number of charitable boards and committees, including the Museum of Science and Industry Metropolitan Family Services in Chicago, and the Jackie Robinson Foundation. Byron is a double domer. And, uh, he earned his bachelor's degree and MBA from Notre Dame. He was a student athlete here. He was co-captain of the great 1987 Notre Dame football team. He and his wife, EDRA, whom he met at a Badden Hall dance, that must be a story, are the parents of two children. And, uh, Byron, I just can't thank you enough. I know you made a great effort to be here. We talked about planes, trains, and automobiles with the weather and getting here. And, uh, he made it. You made it. So thank you, Byron. So grateful for your presence here. Let's give a warm welcome to Byron School. So Tracy, Byron, and I'll have a conversation, but then we'll open it up later for questions. And you can submit questions to the, uh, using the QR code that I think is on the screen. Yes, there's a QR code, so feel free to use that QR code to submit. Questions and we'll try to get to as many as we can a bit later in our time together this afternoon. So Byron and Tracy, both of you have shared, in other settings how your high school years were really important, that their experiences during your time as high school students that were incredibly formative. Tracy, you've talked about how a$20 investment by your mother laid the groundwork for your future success. And Byron, I've heard you talk a bit about a fortunate injury that you experienced during a football game in high school. Do you mind telling us a bit about these experiences? Maybe begin with you, Tracy, and then we can back to Byron.
Speaker 4Absolutely. Well, I, I, first off I wanna say thanks. Thank you Father Bob for having us, uh, having me here today. And, I'll say what everybody else is thinking. Both Byron and I play football. At Notre Dame. He was a lineman. I was a defensive back and somehow it feels like that swapped a little bit, but now I'm the, yeah. Anyway.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 4But, but, uh, no, I, I, I think, uh, certainly my, I, I grew up in an area, of Chicago, called Inglewood. And Inglewood is a, a pretty tough area today. It was even when I, when I grew up there. And, and in the heart of Inglewood is a school called St. Rita High School. and, it was not a school that the kids who actually lived in the neighborhood would go to. Most of the kids who lived in, who lived there went to public schools and, and they were all of my friends. It was really, people were, came in from the outside to go to go to St. Rita. So it was way outta reach for people in, in our neighborhood. And, I have a friend, Kenneth Allen. We, we may have a little time to talk about, but the point is we grew up and both of us wanted to go to this school. And, my mother, I went to, my mom and I asked if, if, if I could apply, you had to, you know, apply to the school and it was a$20 application fee. And Kenneth went to his mom and said, Hey, I'd like to apply to, we were kind of frick and Fract and we did everything together. My mother, who didn't finish eighth grade, who knew nothing about really the value of education, but she gave me the$20. She wanted something better for me and that$20, uh, I took the application, St. Rita introduced me to football, introduced me to the University of Notre Dame, and sort of, sort of the rest is history. I bring up Kenneth Allen because. His mother did not. And, uh, she said, you're going to the public schools. And our fates could not have been more different. That single decision certainly changed his life, and I would argue led to the end of his life, which we can talk about, but, and, and had a lasting impact on me. So it was a, a phenomenal decision, major investment, and, only by the grace of God,
Speaker 3it's a great investment. And, uh, yeah. Thank you. Thanks for sharing that story. Byron. How about that? Uh, fortunate injury.
Speaker 6Fortunate injury. I start with where I came from. So Cleveland, Ohio is where I'm born and raised. Two great role model parents and they always just said, Byron, always just do the best to your ability with your God-given talents. And so I tried to do that, was, uh, blessed with academic and athletic skills and so. Being from Cleveland, there's a song out there. I don't know if people would know this, I'm gonna date myself a little bit, but a group called Lakeside from Cleveland and one of their famous songs is Fantastic Voyage. And so for me, it's been a purposeful journey, but a fantastic voyage in which the fortunate injury plays a role. And much like Tracy, I'm, I'm a big believer of events, people, places, that really shape you as a person, both from a substantial standpoint as well as just an emotional standpoint. And so long story short, I'm in the last game of my high school career playing football, being recruited for basketball, kind of at the D three level and football at the D one level, including Notre Dame, Ohio State, where I'm from, et cetera. And so last game of my high school career and basketball season about to come next, right? So I'm thinking, and there's a sophomore who's the normal kicker. He decides that he's injured that day.'cause he's also preparing for basketball, right? And he thinks he's a better basketball player than football. So he makes that decision. Well guess who's the backup kicker? Hello. And that day the other team had something out for me. It was kind of then publicly known that I kicked the ball off and all of a sudden four or five guys come right at me, nevermind the play down the field, but come right at me after I kick the ball. Blindside me. And knee goes this way, body goes that way.
Speaker 5Ouch.
Speaker 6Talk about hope and dream shattered Father Bob.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 6I'm thinking, okay, well there goes the football part. Certainly the basketball part.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 6But interesting enough, all the schools that were recruiting me were still very much interested. I went to all my recruiting ships, including this one, the last one, uh, at Notre Dame on crutches, and ended up getting an offer from all of them, including Ohio State, but ended up making a choice here. The reason I say it's a fortunate injury because at 17 you're thinking, wow, I could cry that night, which I did with my mom. Uh, dad was at work, but I cried with my mom. And then the next day it's like, okay, what next? How do you deal with this adversity? How do you deal with this situation to grow from? But then how do you take advantage of the opportunity? IE fortunate injury?
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 6And then I go on to say, boy, but for that$20, but for that injury, do I come here? Do I go on to switch from defensive line, which I was recruited for to offensive line during the spring of my sophomore year with Under Coach Faus. Then when Coach Holtz gets here, who really has a affinity for offensive line and, and truly seeing them as leading the pack from the front, if you will, and leadership. So hence Chuck Lan and Byron Spiel become his co-captains in 1987. From that I get an extra year of eligibility, which I pursue A MBA after getting my engineering degree. Take that combination to then go and cons into consulting based on the council with, uh, father, brother and professor Clay Smith. And so you start putting all these things together and you go, oh, by the way, you go into consulting for 27 years, small consulting firm, and 20 with Deloitte. And that is the perfect sort of scenario and background to then be in the role that I'm in today going into my 10th season at the NBA. So these are ordered steps. I could have cried for many, many years and felt like a victim, but I cried that day and moved on. And so I think dealing with those types of situations, that's why I call it
Speaker 5mm-hmm.
Speaker 6A fortunate injury because. For the injury. Many of these things may or may not have happened in the place. Yeah. And the order steps they did. So I don't, I don't question the order steps. I just roll with it, embrace the adversity and, and move on. So that's why it's a fortunate injury.
Notre Dame's Impact
Speaker 3Thank you. Thanks for sharing that. I think we could probably each point to, uh, an experience we've had in life where that may be a, a very disappointing experience that somehow some good came out of it. Right. In one way or another. And, and when we look back at it, we can say it was a fortunate experience. Right, right. Fortunate injury. Now, you both, uh, talk a bit about, a lot about, actually about how Notre Dame played such an affirmative role in your lives and, uh, I can't help but think about that dance in Badden Hall when you met ced. That doesn't get much more impactful than that, meaning your future wife. But, uh, do you mind each of you sharing a bit about how Notre Dame, your experience at Notre Dame was formative, how it impacted you? the most important lessons you take away from your time here at Notre Dame?
Speaker 4Yeah, sorry. Yeah. Yeah. I'll, I'll start. I, first off, I would say, let me count the ways. Yeah. Right. I mean, the reality is Notre Dame just in so many ways. I, you know, I, I talk about the$20, but the$20 led to what I really believe is the, was just the ground. The changing of my life was stepping foot on this campus. And I'll also say that I had no clue that that's what it was when I, when I came here, absolutely none. academically, I, I was just, I was, I obviously was smart enough and I got through high school and I did real well. And academically I was smart, but it wasn't my focus. My focus was coming here to play football, and I knew I could get a good education, and that was, IM important, but it certainly was secondary as I think about it today and what Notre Dame did for me. Besides the fact that I tried to tackle Jerome Bettis, he broke my wrist and I went through that whole deal, that changed me. But what Notre Dame did for me is it, it really got me focused on building something more important than myself. It fundamentally changed me from a kid who walked through life trying to figure out how I could do something for me to this mission-driven focus about how you could do something for others. And Coach Ho used to say, all businesses, all life is, is giving other people what they want. And if you give enough people what they want, then you get what you want. I can tell you that in Inglewood, that is not the way people think. It's about what you can get, not what you can give. The biggest gift that Notre Dame has, has given me is this drive to help others and to be a part of other others' lives. This understanding that that is the way that you get the best and most fulfillment. And that is really true in my time at Notre Dame. I didn't realize it then, so I wanna be clear. It's not like it was so obvious to me. But hindsight, of course, it's 2020. And so the University of Notre Dame did that for me. In addition to all the mentors and people who have influenced my life, really, really changed it. And I would say as we talk about hope, there is absolutely no way that I could sit up here without hope. I mean, if I went through the stories of my life, you would say, no way. This is not true. Even today, you would say, this is not true. My kids who are all now, I'm so proud of and, and, uh, and, and are doing so well, you would almost never say that you started where you started and ended up, I guess it's not over yet. I'm still going, but, but, but where you are today. So the university for me, number one amongst a whole host of things is driving mission.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 4Being there a force for good, really understanding, helping other peoples is the way, and that's what it did most for me amongst a whole host of other things.
Speaker 3Thanks, Tracy.
Speaker 6I, I think very similarly I came to Notre Dame for the academic and athletic excellence and it's certainly been that I had a number of opportunities, but this is, was the place and still is the place for that. But I'm just gonna go to a few acronyms that we used to always hear, and Tracy can spot these off clearly with Coach Hos, in his background. He's a coach for life. And so I go back to win. What's important now that not only applies on the football field in any in individual play, but applies through life and career, decision making, family decision making. The personal side. To your point, father Bob, I met my wife here, uh, at Notre Dame and a screw your roommate, believe it or not. I don't know. They do we still have those? I don't even know. So screw your roommate and some match this up. Bat and dance and off we go from there. that was freshman year and so we dated throughout and so had that experience with her. But then also, uh, our son went here as well. So there's a through line of experience, but I come back to, man, this is a place to just even the details of what's important now. Trust, love, commitment. Trust the people you work with. Make sure they love what they do. Make sure they're committed to excellence. Those are the types of things. Four. Four, forever. Oh my goodness. When, when I was here, it was four for 40, but
Speaker 4mm-hmm.
Speaker 6Certainly now it's four for forever. And so I wanna feel like I've lived that. I'm, I've cashed in on my 40 and I'm on beyond forties now, so beyond the 40 in that four for 40. And so it is four, four forever. Those are the types of things. Play like a champion, small thing, but hitting that sign, going out to games and having it in your office, you probably have one too, right? Yeah, I do. So I'm, I'm not, I don't know that I hit it every day, but it's there. So it's those types of things that being at Notre Dame and the type of people you run into, and, oh, by the way, not just the coaching relationships, but the relationships of the brotherhood that is part of Notre Dame football, that coach ho embodied, that certainly Marcus is embodying and mm-hmm. Those are the types of things that when you get back to it, that's, that's ingrained in me Now. I, I didn't know it when I came here necessarily. I knew it was a special place, but, Be part of the special place to live it each and every day, and now be able to give back through being on the board and other things is just an honor to have these types of opportunities and have this type of forum to actually tell people about it. So I'm very proud of that. Yeah.
Speaker 3Great. Well, thank you. Thank you both mentors. I know that, uh, mentors have played an important role in my life, and I know they've played an important role in huge your lives and, um, who have been the most, uh, impactful mentors in your own life and, and how, I know that you both pay it forward in terms of being a mentor for others. Can you talk a bit about who those mentors are in your own life and, and, uh, how you're trying to pay it forward?
Speaker 6There's probably too many to list. Yeah. I, I hope on the other side there's probably. A lot of people who would include me on their list. I, yeah, I think of mentors, advocates, coaches, sponsors, the ones who can really shake and move and, and impact your career is kind of a personal board of directors. So I'm sure people have heard that term before, but a personal board of directors to help with your personal brand. And so for me, I'll pick out just a few, starting with mom and dad, I mean, there's deceased now, but smiling from up top, they were true mo role models. Hardworking, common sense, not rich, not poor, but right in the middle class. And so given that guidance around always do your best, was was the sort of start for me and my two siblings, foundation, but then Coach Ho for sure, coach Black, my high school coach as well. But there's a, there's two people I just wanna point out here, that are, and I would call Barry Salzberg, who was, when I worked with him as his chief of staff, he was the US CEO for Deloitte. He went on to become global CEO for Deloitte. And when I shaped the, the plan for him, um. His request. They were, they were, he's like, you, you did the org chart here for global, why don't you just pick a box? So you, that's sponsorship. You can't, you, you just can't explain how much of an impact that has on people. So Barry's the chairman of my personal board of directors and I see him c and I visit with him and his wife Evelyn often. They've just had such a huge impact. But I go back to just one line. He used to always tell me he is great at socialization decision making. making sure from the governance perspective, the leadership and management work together, uh, with the board. But six Ps I mean, I'm sure people know the six Ps, but we changed it up a little bit. So, proper planning and preparation promotes peak performance as opposed to prevents poor performance. Because as we were working together, it was like, there's a lot of great things going on. Deloitte, he had his impact and imprint on a lot of things, us and globally, but. The six Ps kind of continued to just stick with me, much like win, much like TLC with Coach Hos. And then there's one other point, one other person I would like to sort of shout out, and that's a guy named Dennis Perkins. You can read his book, great corporate coach if you will. And he's, I'd worked with him for several years before move from, at Deloitte before moving on to an NBA. I've got a different, coach now, but, and I'm always kind of a lifetime learner, so I always love the coaching. I'm a coachable person. and it comes naturally, but his view was, man, Byron, you gotta always take a pause and recognize what he calls catalytic moments. They're going to happen. They're gonna happen. The key is can you identify them? And when you identify them, are you prepared to take full advantage of.
Speaker 3Can you say a little bit more about what are catalytic moments,
Speaker 6catalytic moments in your life, in your career, in your family relationships? What, wherever it is catalytic moments are gonna happen. Ones that will take you to a place you never thought you'd go before.
Speaker 3Mm-hmm.
Speaker 6That's all what Tracy's talking about. That's what I'm talking about. But you gotta be able to identify'em and you gotta be ready to take full of that Joe.
Speaker 3Mm-hmm.
Speaker 6And I've, I've been, the, the blessing here is I've had many, many mentors and sponsors and I've had many catalytic moments.
Speaker 3Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. Tra Tracy.
Speaker 4Yeah. I, I think I, I'll just pick two. outside of my mom who is just mm-hmm. you know, I, like most of you, your parents are, are critically important. My mom for me was, is a big mentor even today. Sounds
Speaker 3like it.
Speaker 4Yeah. Um, but I, I would say, number one, Jay Jordan, and some of you guys will, will know the Jordan name, but, obviously he, he is, um. what he did for me and letting me in the room, I could never, ever repay him. it's been a 30 year relationship, uh, that I, I gained through an introduction through, uh, from Coach Holtz. I, I came to Coach Holtz and I, I said, coach, I got this great little business and at the time it was a really small business, but I was 21, 22 years old. I got this great little business. I had already, gotten an investment from. Jerome Betis, who loaned me$80,000 during that time, I thought I was rich. I
Speaker 3think he, he maybe he felt a little guilty. Yeah,
Speaker 4yeah, yeah. He tried
Speaker 3to
Speaker 4tackle. Yeah, absolutely. He ruined my career too, so that's good. Yeah. I, I'll tell him that next time. But, but, but I, I got a loan from Jerome Betis,$80,000 and started this company immediately ran outta money. Um, and then I, coach Os was still here. It was the last year he was here at Notre Dame, and I went into his office and I said, coach, I got this great business. I got a great idea. you're the only guy I know. you know, I got money from Jerome. You're the only other guy I know who has, has money. And Coach O said, I said, will you invest in the company? And uh, he paused for a second and he said, no. And in a coach Holt's way. Mm-hmm. Right. It's just like, it's kind of matter of fact, right? Just, no. I got up to, to leave after some, some talk and he said, but I'll, I'll do something. And he called J Jordan. at that time, Jay Jordan flew down to South Bend. The next day we had a meeting at Morris. my memory is that it was like 6:00 AM I know Morris didn't open until seven 30, so Jay must have had some sway. But we got in there. We were the only one in, in there. And we started this relationship, relationship,
Speaker 5and
Speaker 4Jay invested in our business, in 1996 or seven, uh, somewhere around that time. Now, I, as I said, I'm this kid from Inglewood, and it felt like, and I would've believed I have nothing in common with Jay Jordan. Zero. And that he wouldn't care one bet about a kid like me. I was not in his circle. But not only did he care for me, he really became like a father and nurtured me and spent time with me. He let me fly on the plane with him. He, he took me to the national championship game in St. Louis. I think we won the girls basketball, uh, championship with Neil Ivy in like 2000, I think it was like 2001. And I flew to Berlin and he taught me so many different lessons about business, about life. He was intentional about it, but the most important thing he did was he let me in the room.
Speaker 5Mm-hmm.
Speaker 4I wasn't on the outside looking in. He let me sit in and I learned, and I developed this passion for what he did in private equity and wanting to do that. I didn't know private equity existed, let alone I'm gonna pursue a career in it. I was a sociology major. I had no business courses, no accounting, no nothing. And Jay said it doesn't matter.
Speaker 5I
Byron's Role in the NBA
Speaker 4think you have instinct, you can do this. And he literally walked me through this process, never once being easy. If you know Jay, you know, he is not easy. That's just not he, he doesn't have that, have that bone in his body. So Jay is number one. And I think, um, the biggest thing he did then and now is he continues to let me in the room and, and just be a sponge for him. The second one is Chris Murphy, who is the CEO of First Source Bank. And, unlike Jay, totally different personalities, but, the same thing is true. Chris Murphy made me a part of his family and what he did was, again, all of this is just simply about believing in someone in me and then allowing me to be around enough to get the bug Yeah. To understand that this was a pathway, something that was doable by me. And then. Probably equally, equally important, just never once making me feel like I couldn't, just building me up, constant building me up. Really tough on me, really hard, but building me up. You should be doing this. You can do that today. They're still doing the same thing as part of a little bit of an issue. They still, it's like, I'm still the little kid. I'm 50 now. So anyway, those two and I, and I could not stress more how important, uh, mentors are for, for everyone. And, and what they did for me is they showed me a path and gave me the opportunity to pursue it.
Speaker 3Yeah, that's great, Byron. I think when people hear that you're in charge of NBA BAS basketball operations, the NBA, they wonder, wow, that must be incredible. That must be incredibly complex. And it is. It is. And you have, um. You have seen, uh, the NBA through some incredible challenges. I can't help but think about COVID and I know that you played a leading role in helping to create that COVID bubble that allowed the, the league to continue play. and, um, and, uh, I'm sure there are all kinds of challenges and opportunities. That's just one example.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 3And say a little bit about, um, about the challenges and opportunities of being in charge of basketball operations for the NBA. Happy to, in like two minutes or less? No. Okay.
Speaker 6Now you lost
Speaker 3no. 3, 3, 3 minutes. Oh, no.
Speaker 6If I need to do it in two minutes less, I'll say I stole the, the playbook from, from my friend here.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 6Mr. Shannon Cullen. Yeah. We, we actually talked a lot during that time just because of the challenges, what we were trying to accomplish, what the universe was trying to accomplish. And we both. Made it through. but what a challenge and think about it a, a consultant who's now in that role. I guess I'd been at the league for four or five years at that point. But this big consulting project really hits us and you gotta have some people who know operations to get some things done. It's a big team effort for sure, Adam leading us with vision and, and everything else.'cause you say we, we need to at this time bring sport and bring basketball back. It would do so much for a lot of people. We always think about our mission in terms of inspiring, connecting people everywhere through the power of basketball. And so that is one moment that we absolutely felt like was necessary and it was a team effort to get it all done. but besides that, I think it also, you take sort of a crisis and turn in an opportunity as well. So not only were we able to finish that particular season, which meant a lot. We also became much more innovative as a result because you had to, you had to think outside the box to make things happen and make, take a risk here, take a risk there. And it allowed us, I can say this, because of the few years prior to COVID, it allowed us to get beyond the traditionalists, if you will, and traditional mindset to really think about new things. So as a result, what came out of it were two challenging events that we were trying to get pushed through. Mm-hmm. But now open people's minds up. So today's version of the play in tournament, that's the seven through 10 tournament at the end of the season before the playoffs came right out of ideas and implementation in the bubble. And then also the concept of the in season tournament. Similarly now the NBA cup, that happens in the first part or first third of our season. So those to me were some challenges, but opened up to opportunity. Father Bob, and then I'll just list quickly, since I'm beyond the two minutes, but I'll, I'll just list quickly some of the things that are challenges right now, right?
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 6So. and this is all public. So the NBA Europe, exploration, would we expand at this point in terms of 2, 3, 4 more teams in the, is there talent available to do that? youth basketball right now, I don't have to go beyond these walls to talk about NIL and transfer portal and how that's impacting student athletes. But for a pipeline to the NBA, the elite of the elite, both men and women, we gotta be a part of that influence and impact to make sure there's growth and development there for pipeline for, for, you know, the top leagues, if you will. officiating overall. You mentioned that as referee operations being part of my remit, probably Shannon laughs I tell'em all the time. Probably the bane of my existence to some extent.'cause you can't, you cannot possibly please everybody there, but, but. Our officials do a great job with their training and performance and evaluation processes, and we're gonna continue to get better. And part of that is the technology side of it too. Yeah. Bringing in elements of officiating technology that will help us with calls, help with them, them with calls on the floor and become more technology based, allowing them to focus on more of the subjective file calling, which I'm sure if we took a poll in here, everybody would agree with a few calls last night's game. Right. So, and I, and I laugh when I say that. Um, and then the last one is just continued innovation around artificial intelligence, which is my friend's.
Speaker 7Yeah.
Embracing Uncertainty and Planning for the Future
Speaker 6My friend's, uh, expertise. But we're trying to figure out both from a basketball perspective as well as a band perspective, how AI can really help us, uh, achieve our goals. So a lot on the plate, to your point, father Bob, but it's, yeah, it's exciting when you come back to this is the game of basketball, you're being a part of that and the journey to really create, our product day in and day out with our great, fantastic players, both in the WNBA and the NBA. It's really, really exciting. To be part of
Speaker 3that is incredible. And that's a great lead in to Tracy. I mean, Tracy, you as Byron mentioned, I mean, you're very much into, how artificial intelligence is really, revolutionizing work and, uh, industry more generally. And, uh, I so admire you. Embrace uncertainty. Uncertainty is not an easy thing to embrace. It'd be great if you, if you wouldn't mind telling us a bit about, how you plan for the future amidst uncertainty. How do you embrace uncertainty and plan for the future?
Speaker 4Yeah. you know, I wish it was a, a formula like, or something in that way, but I, I think, not just because we're here on campus, we're on the stage and we're talking about it, but I think it's important for the university and every student in it, and every, professor to, to understand the love of learning has never been more critical. To embracing uncertainty. The reality is we don't know, but we know things are changing. We know that much. We don't know how they're gonna change. We know artificial intelligence is gonna be really important, really impactful. I think it's already impactful on student education and all these things. We know that we don't know exactly how, but if you love learning, if you are constantly learning about it, then you will be in a better position to be prepared for whatever those changes are. And so I would say, I, I, I actually think that this is the most significant transformation that will happen certainly in our lifetime, in, in my lifetime. And I believe that unlike prior transformations, this one is affecting the knowledge worker and the students who graduate from the University of Notre Dam. We're already seeing it. It's harder to get a job if you're a student after, after you graduate today, that's already tougher. Some of that, I wouldn't apply it a hundred percent to to ai, but I would say that it's starting to have its impact, even if that impact today is only a mental impact, that people believe there's gonna some benefit, and because they believe that they're hiring slower, they don't want to have people, you know, they don't wanna have people that you have to, to lay up. I'm saying I am in the trenches of it, and it's real. It is happening every day within business. So, for me that's a, a really important, that's, that's really important for how we, how we, think about embracing change. the other thing is, I would say most of you and most people in my life, including myself, when they hear about how I grew. And how some of the kids on this very campus, how they grew up and maybe they, don't have money or they don't have something or they've struggled to do things. The immediate reaction is to be, to feel sorry for them. I want you to know, I believe it is their strength and it was also my strength. Embracing change is what I was trained to do every single day. Since I was able to walk outside on my own, I never knew what was gonna happen. The kids growing up in those environments never know what the day is gonna be. Simply walking to school, you have to be ready for that. And to me, while others see it as a negative, for me, it's an unbelievable competitive advantage. So what's the difference between me and the kid who ends up in prison and those schools? My difference is Notre Dame. My difference is St. Rita. My difference is j Jordan, Chris Murphy, they let me in the room and they allowed me to use those same skills, same talents. I'm not smarter than any of those kids. They allowed me to use those things to pursue a pathway that got me to the end, that we are where I am today. But so for me, embracing the change, really, I feel like it was embedded in the way I grew up.
Speaker 5Hmm.
Defining Hope and the Role of Faith
Speaker 4There was no choice. You had to embrace change or you wouldn't survive. And I think for kids today who are growing up in an artificial intelligence or AI environment, you will also have to embrace change. There is no clear and simple pathway because the reality is I don't think anybody really knows exactly where we, uh, are gonna be 10 years from now relative to to change and certainly tech technology.
Speaker 3Thank you. I mentioned earlier that I consider you two great champions of hope, and that's the theme of our conversation here this evening. how do you define hope? How do you define hope? And has that definition changed over the years with your experience? Uh, how do you define hope?
Speaker 6Go ahead.
Speaker 5Oh, no, go ahead. Go ahead.
Speaker 6you tell I'm an acronym kind of person, so in thinking through this, for me, it's, it's heartfelt optimism ho
Speaker 5mm-hmm.
Speaker 6Purposeful enthusiasm.
Speaker 5Mm-hmm.
Speaker 6So if you put that together, hope to me define that way, says we gotta always think about the possibilities, going beyond even the real time possibility. Mm-hmm. To what things can shape to be. And you wanna be a part of that journey and making a difference along the way. again, I've been blessed and fortunate to have a purposeful journey, but I think that enthusiasm and optimism, it comes along with it is also something, especially in today's environment. I don't want to get into politics at all, but in today's environment where we as Notre Dame have that platform, we have that image, we have that brand, we have that authority to really make a difference and be a force for good. It's almost like we gotta be champions of hope in this mm-hmm. Uh, in today's, uh, environment and, and with everything that's going on, lemme just put it that way.
Speaker 3Yeah. And has Faith had anything to, and what, what is the role of faith in all of that?
Speaker 6Faith, faith is huge for me. We're, we're a faith family. I'm a man of faith and, and so that's a huge part of it. You, it's almost like it give faith gives me confidence and my family confidence to do all the right things. Not worry about fear of failure. Gives you the confidence to live your day, each and every day given the God-given abilities that we all come with. And so faith is core to hope, and faith is core to the path forward. And faith is core to being a force for good.
Speaker 3Yeah. Thank you. Thanks Myron. Tracy.
Advice for Students and Future Leaders
Speaker 4I think faith is everything as it relates to, to, um, hope and, and the way you, you, you do it. I, I, um, I often say to my kids, and then I think I really feel this way, that God put us all on earth to do something that we all are, we have this talent. And, it's the belief without all the evidence at all, at at, at every and at at all times that you are here to do something special. How can you believe in building something bigger and more important than yourself and this sense of purpose and life? If you have no faith, if you are in some way godless. So for me. that is essential sometimes to the point that my kids don't wanna hear it anymore about what they're meant to do and what they're passion, you know, all those types of things. And I also believe that, I think one of the most important things we can do as parents, as uh, guardians of other, people's kids is help them find their pathway. I think it's a massive issue. Uh, Shannon and I talk about this. I'm extremely passionate about it. It's helping kids find their pathways. So many kids come to the best universities in the world and they wake up, with a degree and then decide ultimately this is not the path or don't know and need to talk to, uh, someone about it. So whether it's faith in, that there's something better out there for me. And, I think you need to have faith in order to genuinely believe in that. If it's hope, that, I think it's the core element to driving people to being more successful. Hope you show me a kid with no hope. I'll show you a kid that 10 years, 15 years down the road is not gonna do something productive in life. Hope if we can give kids hope, if we could do that one thing, it'll change them forever. I actually believe it's equal to, or, or more important than what they study. There is no other way that you could look at sort of my life and my view and think about it any other way. Faith, hope. There has to be a God. There has to be because my life in my view, says that I think I'm here to do something. Special and that special thing is help others and be committed to doing good in the world. I don't always get it right. You won't always get it right, but I do believe that if you believe in God and you talk to God and have a relationship with God, you'll look at every one of those, every setback. I think you'll look at those as opportunities to learn and figuring out how you're gonna get better and how you're gonna persevere through all of those things. So no matter how you, you know, if you just rewind all of the sort of, you know, again, hindsight's 2020, if I go back, it always in a sense starts with man, it's faith in God. It is having hope. If I ever lost that, it'd be tough. I think my next 10 years are my best 10 years. Now, 10 years from now, I'm gonna think the next 10 is the best. 10. Right. I'm optimistic and I love it. I think that all comes from faith and it comes
Speaker 3from, I love it. Just before we go to q and a, one more question in one minute or less, please, uh, share with us advice, for how we can be better agents of hope and maybe especially with our students in mind. Any advice for us? One minute or less? Sorry. Yeah.
Speaker 8Be, be you.
Speaker 6Be authentic and natural to yourself. Take advantage of your brand along with the ideas that others instill in you and be a force for. Good.
Speaker 3Yeah. Great. Love it. And you invited by the rules too. I did, yeah.
Speaker 6I was watching the
Speaker 5clock.
Speaker 4I, I would would say really quickly, I think help, help students find their path. Help'em find their pet. Something they're really extremely passionate about. And it's not about, every kid needs to be in finance, or every kid need needs to be in one, uh, subject or, or the other. Really see them for who they are. I ended up at a career full of business, super passionate about it, but I didn't study business at all.
Speaker 5Mm-hmm.
Speaker 4Obviously, I loved business and I, and it's sort of, we missed it. Jay Jordan saw it and he invested in it and he realized it, and that changed the trajectory of, you know, my entire family. So what I would say, the advice to me is, I don't know how much time we spend trying to do that thing, but I think we need to spend as much as necessary
mm-hmm.
Speaker 4To help all of our students find, their pathway, the thing that they're super passionate about.
Speaker 3Thank you. Thank you. Incredibly important. We have a few questions here, and feel free if you haven't submitted a question to send a question. But, uh, I've got a question here from, a student in our midst named Maddie Maddie's here somewhere, but Maddie, uh, asks, when you're facing a high stakes decision with no perfect options, what helps you decide the right way forward? When you're facing a high stakes decision with no perfect options, what helps you decide the right path forward? Byron,
Speaker 6I'm still a believer of having your own point of view, but trying to bring in other points of view to make it better.
Speaker 5Mm-hmm.
Speaker 6So even if there are lesser options, what is the best of those lesser options? And I may have a point of view, but again, with somebody like Barry Solberg being my mentor and, and um, that gave me a lot of tutelage, I would bring in other. Points of points of view to then decide on the best course of action, especially if there are actually really tough options in there.
Speaker 5Mm-hmm.
Speaker 6Um, but then you gotta look at the factors in terms of who is it gonna impact and what will happen if we go this particular option versus another. So some bit of data analytics and all that. I mean, that all kind of plays into the decision making process, but I would get a fair amount of input before making a final decision that that's me. Some people would just say, Nope, I'm gonna make a decision and go, I would get other D points. Yeah.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 3Got it.
Speaker 4Not, not very different. I, I think obviously you gotta have all the information, but ultimately what I'm gonna fall back on is do right. Do the best you can and treat other people the way you wanna be treated. And that really is uh, I think it's really hard. We don't always want to do it because it may be something that tells us we need to do something that is not in our. Immediate interest. That's really difficult that those are tough decisions, but ultimately, I believe most people know the right thing to do. If you take a pause and you think about it, you know the right thing to do. We don't always do it, but we know it. I think, most people know that if they were on the other side of the table or the other side of that decision, they know how they would wanna feel, right? They, most of us know that, and I think if we genuinely put the time and energy and effort doing the best we can relative to whatever that decision is, usually you come, to a, to the right decision. I think that's, that's fairly, if you follow those rules, you're gonna end up with certainly more, more good ones than bad
Speaker 6and, and have conviction even in it, even though you may end up pissing off some of the people as part of Yeah,
Speaker 4absolutely.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 6Yeah,
Speaker 3yeah. Thanks. This is been one of our students, Chacha. And this is the question. This is Jojo's question, gleaning from the life of Dr. King, how do you continue to work to foster togetherness in our increasingly divided society? Here at Notre Dame, we talk a lot about building that beloved community that Dr. King talked about. So I think that this question, it speaks directly to the beloved community and how we can best build that beloved community gleaning from the life of Dr. King. How do we, how do you continue to work to foster togetherness in our increasingly divided society?
Speaker 6I, I personally think this place is a community that brings unity. And so our platform, our leaders really talk to it each and every day. And, and then, and then on top, on top of it, we have the Catholic mission that grounds us as well. So I think it naturally comes, it's hard work, but it naturally comes and we can continue to embody, embrace all of what Dr. King, taught us to think about. I think of my own space that, you know, basketball brings people together. Here again, a community unity, galvanizes people towards sport or a particular sport. Sport. Um, but Notre Dame I think is just naturally fitting for that type of activity and that type of responsibility, frankly, to continue to embody Dr. King's words.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 6Thanks Pat.
Speaker 4Yeah, I think, first off, great question. I think, you know, when, when you go back and look at the Dr. King dream when he talks about, uh, white kids and black kids, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics all sitting down at the table with brotherhood, I think, the meaning of that is that we gotta get in the same room. The convening power of the University of Notre Dame is. Bringing people into the same room. It's how our student body looks, right? That's one way to do that. How, how we, how we all can, can breed togetherness, but so often we don't understand one another. I can tell you again, I, I just keep going back to how I grew up, up. They don't understand Notre Dame. They don't. Right. And maybe Notre Dame doesn't completely understand them. But the reality is once we get together and we get at the room, quote unquote, that the sit down at the table of Brotherhoodhood, I do genuinely believe we will start to understand one another. We will realize that we're not so different than one another. That we actually want many of the same things from one another, from the world. Certainly we'll disagree on some issues, but I can tell you there is far more that we agree on. Than things we disagree on. So I think, it's using our convening power to get people in the, in the room and to allow, those that don't look like us and look isn't just a skin color look like us, is, is is, um, you know, is, is different than that. Allow'em in the same room with us mm-hmm. And recognize their differences. And ultimately if you ask as I would typically say, ask the second question. If you don't just stay at the surface and you go deeper and deeper, what you will find is what they want in life is very much the same as, as what you want. There are more things we have in common. So that's what I think we need to do and I think we're doing a good job of, of making a, uh, a real effort to do that, uh, here on campus. And I think we gotta do more of it.
Speaker 3Yeah. Love it. This is from Timothy student here. As business leaders, how do you evaluate the extent to which your company is responsible for social good? How do you balance purpose and profit? Tracy
Speaker 4start. Oh, yeah. I, I love this one. So, I believe me, I think, I think our business is a nonprofit. It is about helping the community. It's not, they are not separate at all.
Speaker 5Mm-hmm.
Speaker 4They go directly with one another. You have to build it into the culture, right? It has to be a part of who you are, building a team. Our, our mission is to help transform lives. So I think that is critical to everything we do day to day, day-to-day. Again, we don't always get it right. We do have those forks in the road where you gotta make a different decision. But what I will say is there's not one person who works at any company that we are involved in that won't say what we do every day is for our community. And driving that again. All businesses, all life is, it's giving other people what they want. And if you help enough people get what they want, you ultimately get what you want. And that's just embrace, that's a, a part of who, who we are. And so I, I don't, I kind of reject that. You have to make a choice. I would argue You focus on the community, you'll do well. The profit will come. I actually believe that they, they go together. Mm-hmm. Right. In my, my view,
Speaker 6I think in the business of basketball, we also inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of the game. And so with that, the profit comes alongside of the love of the game and growing fans first, maybe some become elite players that get to the NBA, but we, in WNBA at the end of the day, they're kind of work hand in hand. Yeah. To, to Tracy's point. Yeah. so it's the business of basketball for us.
Speaker 3Yeah. One more question and, uh, this is from Nick, one of our students. For students who are still writing our stories of hope, what can we do to make the most of our time at Notre Dame? Wow. What can we do to make the most of our time at Notre Dame?
Speaker 8Um,
Speaker 6know that your voice
Speaker 8is
Speaker 6important and heard in this place. And so if you take that as an assumption, everything you do, interacting with your fellow students, interacting with your professors, interacting with Father Bob, and others in the clergy. So know that your impact, even though it's a singular impact, does have a place in this phenomenal university and platform. And so if you realize that today we're 40, 50, 60 years out from this place, but if you realize that today, then you'll look back on and say, wow, I really did take advantage of my moment in time on the campus. I promise you that.
Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks
Speaker 4Yeah, that's, that's great. I, I, I would say, see everyone, see the campus, see the people. I don't mean walk by'em on the way to school, see them. Like really get to know them. Be a part of the community. Bring what you bring to the community, however you grew up, wherever you grew up, bring that to the community, but also open up and, and see the other people on campus. Nothing makes me happier than when my daughters bring someone home, who is not like us or may have a different experience. If you want to affect the richness of the world, then you affect the richness of this campus because these are the very people who are gonna be out in the world doing great things when, when they leave. They're doing it now, but they certainly will be doing them. But if you want to say what contribution you can make beyond what you actually go off and do and all the success you're gonna have, it's really seeing the other person. I think that's critical. You know, we have extremely, extremely focused kids academically. We have extremely focused kids athletically, some, uh, both. We have white kids and black kids and Jews and people from, of different parts of the world. you can't get in a clique where you only see the people who look like you. The biggest impact I think you can make outside of doing your own work, making sure you take care of the things that are important. For yourself is to see that person who's sitting in the dining hall and it's not as popular as you are and but really needs a friend right now. And you have an opportunity through something that is to you not even a big deal, to just say hello or hi or, or offer, you know, something, uh, sometimes that, that wouldn't even matter to you, but would mean the world to the people around you. So I would say see the people like really, really see them.
Speaker 3Love it. I have immensely enjoyed this conversation. We could go on for a while. I know that you don't have forever and, uh, and, uh, I've been limiting you to one minute, two minutes at a time. That's, and, uh, but I have so enjoyed this conversation and, uh, I look forward to picking up on the conversation. As we move forward, uh, over time, it's so, I'm so grateful for your friendship, each of you being such amazing friends, and also just incredible examples of the spirit of Notre Dame in action and, uh, amazing agents of hope. so join me in thanking to amazing people, Byron Sproul and Tracy Graham.
Speaker 5Thank Julie. Hold up.
Speaker 3We have, we have a couple of, we have a, uh, couple of gifts here, and I know you've seen this around. Oops, sorry. Yeah, they're, they're personalized by the way. Yeah.
Speaker 7Yeah.
Speaker 3And, many of you have seen this photo around of, uh, Dr. King and Father Hesberg taken, I think in 1964. I'm looking at Father Austin'cause he knows these things. In 1964 in Soldiers Field in Chicago. And, uh, just a great testimony of their friendship and their love for each other and their dedication to civil rights here in the United States to building that beloved community that we strive to build here at Notre Dame. So I wanna thank you both once again for being
Speaker 4Thank
Speaker 3you. So amazing. Thank you very much,
Speaker 4so much for the welcome.
Speaker 3Thank you. And our walk the walk week events continue. Of course. Uh, tonight we have a candlelight prayer service in the rotunda of the main building. In our own Reverend Hugh page will be, be, uh, sharing a homily, a reflection with us, a sermon, and, uh, really grateful. It's gonna be, I think, a great, uh, evening. And I know that, uh, that, uh, Reverend Page's, uh, sermon is powerful. It's gonna inspire sa so I hope to see you there. It's 8:00 PM. In the rotunda of the main building. And once again, thanks everybody for being here and thank and join me once again in thanking Tracy and.