The University of Chicago basketball team headed into halftime on Feb. 1 with their work cut out for them. They trailed by 11 against Emory University, then the top-ranked team in Division III.
But guard Shane Regan didn’t stress. Instead, the UChicago graduate student approached the second half like he would a case from one of his classes at Chicago Booth.
“It’s all about shifting your mindset and taking actionable steps,” said Regan, a student in the Master in Management program, who scored 18 of his team-high 24 points after halftime in the Maroons’ 74–64 comeback win. “You look at what’s going on in the game and come up with solutions and things that we can better as a team.”
At 21-4, UChicago is enjoying one of the best seasons in its history, due in part to the leadership of Regan and fellow Booth student Nick Roper. Both were named preseason all-Americans and are the team’s top two leading point scorers. Behind the scenes, Josh Steinberg, another Booth student, is guiding the team as a graduate assistant coach.
Following the Emory win, the Maroons earned a No. 1 ranking for the first time since 2001. They finished the season ranked fourth in the country, with their best record since 2001. This weekend, the Maroons will host an NCAA Tournament Regional, making their eighth tournament berth.
But these Maroons have their sights set on history. “The goal for us is to go places that UChicago basketball never has,” Regan said.
Balancing basketball and business
When Roper and Regan finished their undergraduate degrees last year, they knew they weren’t finished with basketball. They each had an extra year of NCAA eligibility after missing a year for injury earlier in their careers. Continuing their basketball careers at a school where they could also earn a graduate degree was a perfect opportunity.
While Roper and Regan each received offers from Division I and II schools, they both wanted the academic balance a Division III school would provide. As part of Division III’s stated goal to prioritize academics, basketball teams have less demanding practice schedules and only play on Fridays and weekends. UChicago stood out—and, specifically, Booth’s Master in Management Program.
Roper had majored in finance at Illinois Wesleyan University and felt like the Booth program was the “perfect in-between” of continuing his business education while broadening his skills. Meanwhile, Regan wanted to explore what business career paths could be available to him, after previously studying psychology at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
“Having that flexibility, getting to choose a lot of different classes, and just getting that general business background was going to be very beneficial for me,” said Regan, who is pursuing a specialization in finance. “I knew that I would learn a lot.”
Steinberg also wanted to deepen his business education with a master’s degree, after studying marketing at Calvin University. He played basketball there for two years, but discovered a passion for coaching when he began working as head coach of Calvin’s junior varsity team and an assistant on the varsity team. He wanted to continue coaching during graduate school, and knew he could land and balance the job better at a Division III school like UChicago.
Even in Division III, though, balancing a master’s program and athletics has tested all three students’ time-management skills.
“Booth is known for its rigorous coursework, and I’m witnessing that firsthand,” Roper said. “But practice is a nice break from the work, and then I get back to it in the evening.”
Taking leadership skills off the court
Throughout the season, the Booth students have gotten to apply management and leadership lessons from the classroom on the court. All three specifically said the required managerial psychology course, taught by Linda Ginzel, has given them valuable insight into being better team players.
“We’re learning how the brain functions when people talk to leaders and receive instructions,” Roper said. “So on the basketball court, I try to pick up on my teammates’ signals and how they’re receiving what I’m saying.”
The season also has been a crash course in leadership for Regan and Roper, who the team immediately expected to lead despite being new additions.
“I look at it as a privilege to get to lead,” Regan said. “Early on in my college career, I had great mentors that I learned a lot from. Now, getting to pay it forward and be a great mentor to younger guys is something I really embrace and enjoy.”
To Roper, basketball is practice for the perseverance he’ll need in his career. He’s interested in private credit and structured finance, with the long-term goal of starting his own fund.
“You’ve got to be tough and figure things out when they aren’t going your way on the court,” he said. “And I think that’s the same way in business—everything isn’t going to go in your favor, but you need to keep grinding, keep getting up when you get knocked down.”
Steinberg takes a different perspective on leadership and management from the sidelines. His in-game responsibilities include taking notes on how the opponent is defending their offense and what the team is struggling with, along with reviewing live statistics, to help the coaching staff figure out adjustments.
Against Carnegie Mellon in January, for instance, he noticed the team was having issues scoring off defensive stops, and conveyed this to the coaching staff.
“You could take that and extrapolate it to the business world,” said Steinberg, who’s pursuing public affairs consulting. “What are your targets and how do you meet them using the data you’re given on the fly?”
As the Maroons aim for a deep run in the NCAA tournament, Regan is reflecting on another lesson basketball has taught him: discipline.
“You can recognize we have these lofty goals, but the most important thing is that, day by day, we’re taking the right steps,” Regan said. “We’re just going to continue to stack good days, and hopefully we’ll get good outcomes from that.”
—Adapted from a story first published on the Chicago Booth website.