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Former Lady Griz finds niche as agent
Story by Roman Stubbs | April 3, 2008
Montana Kaimin
In 1998, Vanessa Nygaard’s basketball career had exhumed the death rattle.
The former Stanford star tore her knee up in the final regular season game of that season, then could only watch as her team became the first No. 1 seed to ever lose to a No.16 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. She was the second-to-last pick in the 1998 WNBA draft, missed her rookie year in New York and was riddled with a shady experience with her agent.
When Nygaard arrived in San Jose to watch the Final Four in 1999, she was a mere spectator to the game she only had a last gasp in, before her career went six-feet under the floor boards.
“I was in a position where I thought nobody wanted to represent me. I was an injured kid and the last pick in the draft,” she said.
So when she met Jeanne McNulty-King that March, by fate or chance or luck, she rediscovered the game she loved, going on to four tours in Europe and playing six more seasons in the WNBA.
“Other than me, she was the biggest person in my career, someone who always believed in me and would fight for me,” said Nygaard, who today is an assistant coach for San Antonio.
If hustle, craftiness and perseverance earned McNulty-King the legacy as one of Montana’s best ever in the late 1980s, then it was those same qualities that she has used to spawn her company, 2X Inc., into one of the country’s finest professional women’s basketball agencies today. Born in Missoula and now christening on the banks of Coeur d’Alene Lake, the one-woman firm specializes in representing women basketball players in the U.S. and overseas.
But nothing ever worth earning comes overnight. No, no, McNulty-King didn’t pull up for 3 with this venture. She knew she had to go through the grinder on the blocks, and try to get the 3-point play – the old fashion way.
She had to learn how to break bread and negotiate with management, and how to carry herself when competing against other agents. She had to learn how to use her playing days floor-sense to evaluate a prized guard, how to gain a coach’s trust. Most importantly, she learned how to be a friend first and an agent later, especially when one of her girls was lonesome in some dark corner of the world.
She netted legal teams and accountants to be there for her clients. She traveled the globe, setting up coaching contacts and partners from Jerusalem to Moscow.
While her hustle was a key ingredient, McNulty-King believes her modest beginnings came through works of faith.
“Rob (Selvig) helped with contacts. He is always helping. Coaches like Gary Blair from Arkansas and Bill Fennelly from Iowa State. A lot of people put some faith in me, which I really didn’t know why they did. I’ve been really fortunate,” she said.
And with a mesh of faith and grit her success has been undeniable. McNulty-King represents up to 70 clients a year. In 2003 she signed Stacey Dales Schuman, the eye popping ESPN analyst who also stars in the WNBA. She is in the mix for top-five picks every year, with her roster including ex-college greats such as Duke’s Monique Currie, Georgia Tech’s Tan White and Kansas State’s Nichole Ohlde.
But this isn’t Jerry Maguire. McNulty-King’s life isn’t set to a charming Cameron Crowe soundtrack. This has never been about money. The average WNBA salary is $55,000, with an agent usually taking a five percent cut, and up to 10 for overseas contracts. She faces the daunting day–to–day challenges of getting her WNBA prospects into training camps and collecting commissions from overseas management.
“The hardest part is getting the money for your athletes and getting your commission,” she said.
But McNulty-King loves it. You can tell. She loves waking up early and simultaneously turning on Yahoo, AIM, MSN and Skype, just to catch 15 of her girls overseas before they hit the rack. She loves the challenge of trying to sign a Candace Wiggins from Stanford equally as much as grabbing a Natalie Doma from Idaho State. She loves the feeling of sending a bouquet of roses to Russia for one of her players 25th birthdays, loves the feeling of getting former Montana standout Hollie Tyler into San Antonio’s training camp.
And did I mention that she has two little boys and is the junior varsity girl’s basketball coach at Coeur D’Alene High School? It doesn’t get any more unconventional than Jeanne McNulty-King. It’s hard to imagine another self-taught, full-time agent doing client work alongside cooking daily doses of SpaghettiOs, not mention teaching x’s and o’s.
March is the most hectic time of the year for McNulty-King, who was in Spokane Monday night to meet with Maryland center Laura Harper’s family before the regional final.
This weekend she will be at the Final Four in Tampa Bay, the perfect place for a pinstriped barracuda to hunt in a sea of prospects.
It marks her 10th Final Four, and, while she surely will battle for the country’s brightest stars just like in years past, she won’t forget her first Final Four, when she put her arm around a lost player and her career.
“A lot of agents have the firepower and the people behind them. Jeanne has really worked her way up in the business based on who she is as a person,” says Nygaard.
Pause.
“It’s not superficial. What you see is what you get.”
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Age. Fac ut gaudeam |
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