Student Spotlight
Nathan Hudson
Photo Credit: Jessica Heier Photography
Nathan Hudson is an undergraduate student in the WSU Sport Management Program.
Please describe yourself?
I am a senior in the Sport Management program, as well as the Program Director and
Head Coach for the Life Prep Men's Basketball Program. I was born and raised in Wichita,
surrounded by great basketball programs most of my life. Basketball has been my passion
for as long as I can remember, and being able to teach the game I love, to others
is something I will always cherish. I started coaching when I was 18 (Thanks to Dr.
Noble's Sport Intro class assignment). I have worked for Next Level Hoops Academy
as an AAU coach and a Player Development Specialist, as well as being the Director
of Boys Basketball Development for Wichita Hoops. Both of these helped me gain the
experience to land the head coaching position for the 2nd team at LPA. After the program
director position opened up after this season, I was offered the position, as well
as the top team head coaching job.
How do you balance school life and your personal life?
I have had to make some sacrifices in my personal life, with how busy I am with school
and work. However, the Sport Management program at Wichita State is very helpful and
works with you to manage your class load. Along with this, many of the subjects covered
in the SMGT classes correlate almost directly to real world situations I see on a
daily basis, so that has helped to keep my stress levels down. As well as this, it
doesn't feel like a sacrifice when you are doing something you love every day.
What do you consider your strengths and weaknesses?
I would consider a strength of mine to be organization. I like to stay very organized,
from my school work documents, to my scouting reports for games, everything is in
its correct place. Along with this, I would say attention to detail would be another
strength of mine. I like to analyze everything to its end, so my program is always
prepared for whatever may come. A weakness of mine would be I am too forgiving at
times. We've had some issues with players in the past year, and I gave them more chances
to redeem themselves than I should have.
What motivates you as a student?
The love of what I am doing motivates me as a student. I have always been a sports
nut and a numbers guy, so the combination of those two things fit well with the SMGT
program. What is assigned in this program all relates to field work, and is not mundane
and pointless like some gen. ed. classes feel like.
What has been your best experience as a student so far?
As a student, my best experience (or best learning experience) came in my first day
in the program. I had been an Athletic Training student my first semester in college,
but something did not feel right. I switched to SMGT, and Dr. Noble stated in class
(like he does every day) “It's not what you know, it's who you know. But it's not
just who you know, it's who knows you”. That has stuck with me since that day, and
I continue to see that phrase come out to be true time and time again. Learning that
early into college, and being able, through the program, to make those connections
that will assist me later in life is really priceless.
Can you define your dream job?
My dream job is to be the Head Coach for a D-1 basketball program. I know with my
career choice, I will not have much of a say in where I will be going, or what school
I end up at, but being from Wichita, it would be my dream to continue to build on
the great tradition here at Wichita State University.
Do you have any advice for incoming students of the program?
My advice to incoming students would be to take every opportunity you can in this
program, and in college in general. Network, make new connections, because you never
know where life will take you and your fellow classmates. Being that connection for
someone, or having a connection to someone else will help you land jobs you otherwise
would not have the opportunity to have.