When Sarah Graves arrived on the Forty Acres in 2022 as a finance freshman, she thought she’d be leaving her basketball days in the past.

But her assumption of a fading love for the sport quickly proved erroneous.

“I went a month without basketball before realizing that I would go crazy without the competition and team environment,” Graves said.

Reaching out to Texas women’s basketball assistant coach Sydney Carter and associate head coach Elena Lovato, the former first-team All-District guard at Keller High School went through a “grueling” trial period focused on defense, conditioning and cardio. Ultimately, Graves earned a walk-on spot on head coach Vic Schaefer’s roster, having barely settled in as a college student before transitioning into a student-athlete lifestyle. 

The schedule is demanding and requires sacrifice — Graves said her teammates call her “the iPad kid” when she works on late-night flights. Still, after joining the team as a freshman, she did not waver in her commitment to the balancing act of athletics and academics.

Fast forward to the summer of her sophomore year, and that devotion to both became intertwined. 

Graves was training in the women’s basketball facility and using the Noah shooting machine, which tracks the arc and depth of each shot attempt, when she met UT professor and long-time basketball analyst Kirk Goldsberry. Goldsberry is also the executive director of the then-recently established Business of Sports Institute in the Red McCombs School of Business.

“He saw me being a nerd about the analytics,” Graves said about their first interaction.

Schaefer brought Graves to Goldsberry’s attention, lauding her as an exceptionally bright student-athlete and someone to collaborate with in his new institute. From that introduction, a partnership has grown that Goldsberry described as a “natural, everybody-wins situation.”

“Sarah is a unicorn,” Goldsberry said. “She is able to give us a vital perspective of a student, a student-athlete, a McCombs undergraduate who wants to have a career in sports business, and that’s really important. … Sarah really represents that key part of our vision, which is to serve the undergraduates and the student-athletes with opportunity.”

Over time, Graves got more involved with the institute by volunteering her time anywhere her perspective and expertise could be useful.

“Honestly, it’s kind of the same journey that I had as a walk-on, just trying to put yourself in places to be around successful people and offer time just to learn from the best of the best,” Graves said.

As the Business of Sports Institute has grown, so have the opportunities for Graves, culminating in a recent addition to the institute that has signified its progression since its founding in 2021. Last month, the institute announced its inaugural 29-member advisory board, made up of leading figures within the sports business industry, including Graves.

“When we decided we wanted to have a student-athlete on the board, the choice was obvious,” Goldsberry said.

This makes sense considering Grave’s existing presence in the institute and her academic excellence as a finance major. 

And Graves has embraced and taken advantage of her role. She highlighted Goldsberry, along with two involved members of the institution’s board, Texas basketball great Kevin Durant and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, among those who have exposed her to the expansive network and industries within sports business.

“Every day, you come and hear a new story about how someone is changing the game and shaking everything up, so it’s just really exciting,” Graves said.

Now entering her senior season, Graves’ student-athlete journey has reached its finale. This past summer was the beginning of the end, as she balanced summer practices with a private equity internship obtained through the BOSI board. However, Graves’ experiences with the institute have confirmed her passion lies in sports, and that is the route she intends to explore.

“She has a very bright future, and she’s been an instrumental part of our inaugural board, representing everything that’s right about the University of Texas,” Goldsberry said.