FRIDLEY, Minn. — Exactly 24 kids were enrolled in an outdoor basketball camp Friday hosted by former University of Minnesota guard Sean Sutherlin and his company, 24 ELITE.
"I played there for one year and I wore number 24," Sutherlin explained. "I took the slogan 'elite' from P.J. [Fleck] from the football team."
Sutherlin was still a Gopher when he co-founded the business with partner Justin Davis. At the time, it was called 4 the City Sports. Through it, Sutherlin hosted his first camp, charging families a small fee to enroll. This was possible because the NCAA had just changed its policy, allowing college athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness.
"I was one of the first to do it," Sutherlin said.
He and Davis also saw opportunity to help other college athletes manage their own endorsement deals. Sutherlin says they're currently working with 24 athletes. Yes, 24.
"College guys in the NCAA — DI, DII, DIII — just ways for them to make money on their name, image and likeness because a couple years ago, we weren't making any money at all," Sutherlin said.
RELATED: NCAA's NIL policy change allows Gopher Sean Sutherlin to host basketball camp under his name
As if running a company wasn't enough, the former Gopher still plays basketball. He's currently on a professional basketball team in Slovakia called Nitra.
"We won the championship over there this last year, so I'm excited to go back," he said.
Sutherlin is from New Brighton and is back in the Twin Cities for the summer. He'll head to Slovakia in just a few weeks for the second half of his contract before becoming a free agent.
He's also been playing for team Strictly Bball in the annual Twin Cities Pro-am summer league.
His day camp was open to kids in kindergarten through seventh grade.
"My coaches always tell me like I'm a walking testimony of just hard work, dedication," Sutherlin said. "That's what I'm trying to teach the younger generation on the court or off the court. So just hard work and dedication is going to lead to success."
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