Kasey McCravey

The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business

“West Point graduate and former USA women’s 7’s rugby player driven to lead and impact sport.”

Hometown: Scottsdale, AZ

Fun fact about yourself: I was nominated for an ESPY in 2016 for best play but lost to Aaron Rogers.

Undergraduate School and Degree: United States Military Academy, Bachelor of Science

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? U.S. Army, Senior Logistics Advisor

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Nike, Beaverton, OR

Where will you be working after graduation? Nike, Marketing Vanguard Program Associate

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Co-president of the Business of Sport Fellows, 2025 Business of Sport Institute Graduate Student of the Year

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Starting the Business of Sports Fellows Program. A 3-credit hour class designed to give MBA students industry experience and mentorship from the top companies and leaders in the sports industry.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? One of my greatest achievements was also one of my biggest disappointments. In 2018, I was invited to try out for the USA Women’s 7s Rugby team, a sport I had never played before. At the time, the program was looking for athletes to transition into rugby, and I was fortunate to receive an invitation. After being thrown in with some of the best rugby players in the world, I made the team and spent the next three years training, traveling the world, meeting incredible people, and playing rugby. After only three years in the sport, I was selected as an alternate for the 2020 USA Olympic Rugby team in Tokyo.

At the time, it felt like my greatest defeat because I came as close as you possibly can to being an Olympian without actually competing. Now, however, I see it as one of my proudest achievements. I was able to leave a lasting impression on my teammates and the program by being the best possible teammate I could be. It is also an incredible accomplishment to go from never having played a sport to traveling to the Olympics as an alternate just three years later.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose to attend the University of Texas McCombs for three reasons: I wanted to attend a top-20 school, an environment that felt team-oriented and collaborative, and Ia university with a strong athletic department.

Focusing on the final reason, I knew that transitioning from an MBA program into the sports industry is not a well-trodden path. My thinking was that if I attended a university that invested heavily in its athletic department, I might be able to benefit from those resources and connections. Once I arrived at McCombs, I was delighted by the depth of opportunities and support available through both McCombs and the broader University of Texas.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Kirk Goldsberry has helped me tremendously during my time at McCombs. He is a prominent figure in the sports world in his own right, but he is also someone who is incredibly gracious with his time and knowledge for those aspiring to build careers in the sports industry. Throughout my two years at McCombs, Kirk has provided an immense amount of support and opportunity. He has been an incredible mentor, and I’m very proud to be heading into the next chapter knowing I have him in my corner.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite course was my Global Connections class. It focused on sustainability and entrepreneurship in Bali. As part of the course, we consulted for companies in Bali to help them develop their marketing and business strategies. The experience culminated in a 10-day trip to Bali, where we met with the companies in person and had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the local culture.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite event at McCombs is the Business of Sports Summit, held every October. It brings top minds from companies across the sports industry to McCombs to speak and network with students. The one-day event features speaker panels, networking sessions, mentorship opportunities, and a student research showcase.

The summit has grown every year since its inception in 2019 and continues to be an exceptional opportunity for University of Texas students looking to break into the sports industry. I’ve had the chance to hear from leaders like Chris Bosh discussing international basketball and Eddy Cue speaking about the new partnership between Apple TV and Formula 1. It has been incredible to learn firsthand from industry leaders about the challenges and opportunities shaping sports today.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would have gotten more involved with the University of Texas Athletics. I think there are a lot of valuable lessons you can learn working for a team or organization like UT. It would have given me more hands-on experience and tools to take into my next career.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? One of the most impactful case studies I encountered came from my Creativity in Leadership class. The study explored the contributing factors to happiness and found that one of the most powerful drivers is how much gratitude we express. As part of the assignment, we were asked to write a letter to someone who had positively impacted our lives, read the letter to them, and then reflect on the experience.

It was a truly remarkable exercise and had a meaningful impact on both my happiness and the happiness of the person I wrote the letter to. Since then, I’ve made it a habit to give flowers where they’re due. In high-performance environments—the Army, rugby, and business school—people often overlook the power of simply acknowledging someone’s effort. I’ve learned that taking a moment to recognize work well done costs nothing, yet it can have a profound impact on the people around you and the strength of the team

What business leader do you admire most? Throughout my time at McCombs, I have been fortunate to meet many prominent leaders in the sports industry. Two women I have particularly appreciated interacting with are Amy Howe, CEO of FanDuel, and Alison Nabatoff, Chief Strategy Officer for the San Antonio Spurs. Both are world-class at what they do—empathetic, highly competent leaders who truly understand the value of connection and relationship-building in business. They are emblematic of how great leaders operate – they are consistent, caring and competent.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming?  McCombs offers several courses focused on artificial intelligence. For example, I took a class called AI in Business, where we used a platform called Weka to analyze data with AI-driven tools. Through this course, I developed a stronger understanding of how AI can identify patterns in data, support decision-making, and improve efficiency across business processes.

I’ve also started applying these concepts to something I care deeply about—helping athletes transition out of sport. By using AI tools, I’ve been able to analyze an athlete’s skills, interests, and experiences from their athletic career and generate recommendations for career paths that align with their strengths. In addition, AI has helped create roadmaps for athletes exploring new industries, outlining potential roles, recommended certifications or degrees, and resources that can help them break into those fields. It’s shown me how AI can be a powerful tool to translate the discipline, leadership, and resilience developed in sport into meaningful opportunities beyond competition.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? All my classmates who are starting their own companies after MBA school. That takes bravery, creativity, determination, and a lot of grit. I have tremendous respect for that.

One classmate I would like to shout out is Dani McDonald. Dani is a former USA Rugby teammate and Army veteran who has taken on the challenge of starting her own chewable creatine company called CHUPPS. Building a company while in business school is no small feat, and what she’s accomplished so far is incredibly impressive. It’s clearly been a labor of love, and I’m excited to support her by becoming her first customer. 

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? Become a Sports Marketing Rep at Nike. Build a program that helps Olympic and professional athletes transition from their sport into their next careers.

What made Kasey such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“Kasey McCravey is the kind of leader who turns bold ideas into real opportunities for others. A West Point graduate, former U.S. Army Senior Logistics Advisor, Olympic rugby alternate, and incoming Nike Marketing Vanguard Program Associate, Kasey brings an uncommon combination of resilience, competitive spirit, and servant leadership to everything she does. At McCombs, she channeled that drive into building community and opportunity for her peers, most notably by founding the Business of Sports Fellows Program, a three-credit experiential course connecting MBA students with top leaders and organizations across the sports industry.

Kirk Goldsberry, our director of the Business of Sports Institute and renowned sports analytic guru, describes her impact best: “Simply put, Kasey McCravey is one of the finest students I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with at McCombs.” He notes that when the Center launched, the goal was to serve student-athletes interested in sports business careers, but Kasey quickly helped shape the program itself. “Kasey brought us the idea of the Sports Fellows program, worked to stand it up immediately, and then helped oversee its implementation. It’s already one of the most sought-after experiences in our MBA program, and it is helping us attract more sport-obsessed MBA applicants to McCombs. My dream now is that some of them are as good as Kasey McCravey, but that will be difficult.

Kasey’s leadership reflects a belief that success is a team sport. As Co-President of the Business of Sport Fellows and recipient of the Business of Sport Institute Graduate Student of the Year, she created a pathway for students to gain mentorship, industry exposure, and hands-on experience. Her ability to rally others around a shared vision reflects the same mindset that propelled her from never having played rugby to becoming an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Rugby Team in just three years, a story that exemplifies persistence, humility, and the power of showing up for your team every day.

Kasey is a student who does not wait for opportunity, she builds it as she goes. She arrived at McCombs with a clear vision of where she wanted to go, identified a gap in how MBA students access the sports industry, and created a fellows program from scratch to fill it. That instinct, to see what’s missing and do something about it, is what made her an Olympic alternate after three years in a sport she’d never played, and what will make her exceptional at Nike and beyond. Any organization that gets Kasey gets someone who makes the people and programs around her better.”

Tina Mabley
Senior Assistant Dean, Full-Time MBA
The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, Hildebrand MBA

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