TJ Beisner named Director of Player Development for Kentucky Basketball

Once upon a time, TJ Beisner was an editor and contributor right here on this very website, KentuckySportsRadio.com. Now he is the new Director of Player Development for John Calipari’s Kentucky Basketball program.

Today UK introduced Beisner as the team’s first Director of Player Development, a new position created to help players with life off of the court, including player branding in this new Name, Image, Likeness world. The press release described the job as:

Under the direction of UK men’s basketball head coach John Calipari, Beisner – in concert with Kentucky’s brand and content team and the Kentucky Road initiative – will lead and support the Wildcats’ brand-building strategy in the new Name, Image and Likeness era, monitor all changes in NCAA legislation and trends across college athletics to develop strategies and solutions to keep Kentucky at the forefront of college basketball, organize and manage the program’s community service involvement, provide support to players on non-basketball issues, and develop team-wide events focused on educating student-athletes on personal and career development.

No stranger to Calipari and the program, Beisner spent the last few years as a director of digital media and content for UK’s media partner, JMI Sports, and as the editor of CoachCal.com, through which he became one of Calipari’s righthand men on UK Basketball matters. It’s no surprise he was picked to take on this new challenge, described by Calipari as a “major role in the next phase of Kentucky basketball.”

“Our players-first approach remains the foundation of this program and we wanted to take a concerted and strategic approach to what that means in all facets of our program,” Calipari said. “From helping our players build their brands, to getting our players into the community, helping us educate them on key issues, offering off-the-court support to both our kids and their parents, to alumni relations, TJ is going to serve as a director for us off the court.

“Kentucky should be the best in the country in branding, player welfare and development. TJ has been a key part of this program for the last few years in his role with JMI and as editor of CoachCal.com  and I know he is ready to take on this responsibility.”

Beisner said of his new job, “There is no place like the University of Kentucky. As a student, it changed my life. As a parent, I’ve watched the university and UK Athletics do the same for my son. I am thrilled to join Coach Calipari’s staff and have an opportunity to be a supportive and impactful part of the one-of-a-kind college experience you can only receive at the University of Kentucky. I absolutely cannot wait to do my part in keeping UK basketball as the gold standard in this new era of college athletics.”

Congrats to our former colleague. I’m sure he will crush it.