Isaiah Gray ’17 gains experience planning large-scale sporting events.
While at Winona State, Isaiah Gray ’17 was a standout player on the Warrior men’s basketball team. One of only 37 players in the program’s history to score over 1,000 points, he ranks 22nd all-time with 1,180 career points, and just outside the program’s top 15 in career assists, with 261.
A business administration major with a minor in coaching, Gray has now taken his passion for sports into his professional career, interning for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Local Organizing Committee for the 2019 NCAA Men’s Final Four, and more recently, Meet Minneapolis as a Sports Minneapolis & Destination Sales Intern.
During his time working with the 2019 NCAA Men’s Final Four, he served as a Future Stars Intern, focused on activating the community, impacting youth, and giving opportunities to people from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. Carrying out this mission allowed him the opportunity to make an impact on local Winona K-12 basketball players, as well. Just prior to the end of his internship in December, he returned to Winona and spoke to the local players about overcoming obstacles and achieving dreams. “I wanted them to know that playing college basketball isn’t the end-all-be-all. They are all smart kids and if it is possible for basketball to be used as a tool then do so, but don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
In his recent role with Meet Minneapolis, he had the opportunity to be involved in a number of sporting event bids the company was working on – assisting on projects such as the Superbowl, Frozen Four, Final Four, 2026 FIFA World Cup, Women’s NCAA Volleyball Championship, and the 1st Annual Minneapolis Sports Awards Show, among others. Of his experience, he says that he was mainly “assisting or just simply learning what it takes to host an event in your city and what goes into the bidding process.”
While he’s enjoyed being exposed to so many different experiences, he says that he doesn’t have any specific career goals in mind just yet, only that he’s learned he has a passion for event management and coordination within the sports and entertainment industry. “I enjoy everything,” Gray says. “I enjoy that I am so close to all these major events, that I am able to be a part of something that is going to impact hundreds of thousands of people, and that I am learning so much and constantly developing.”
