From KU to the NBA: Cori Brungardt's journey

When Cori Brungardt entered the University of Kansas as an undergraduate, she already had her sights set on a career in sports. What she couldn't have predicted was how quickly she would achieve her ultimate goal of working for the NBA headquarters in New York City. Today, as an Associate Manager on the NBA's Global Partnerships team, Cori's journey from KU classrooms to the pinnacle of professional basketball administration serves as an inspiring roadmap for aspiring sport management professionals.

Brungardt’s path to sports industry success began with intentional academic choices at KU. She pursued a bachelor's degree in business with a focus on marketing, recognizing the diverse options this would provide for her career aspirations.

"I chose to pursue a business degree because of its versatility—you can apply it to so many different fields," Brungardt says. "I focused on marketing in case I ended up working in the sports industry and wanted the flexibility to shift directions. A business background gave me a solid foundation that's relevant across a wide range of industries."

Recognizing that her undergraduate business program offered limited sports-specific coursework, Brungardt made another pivotal decision: to complete her bachelor's degree in just three years and spend her senior year pursuing a master's in sport management.*

The combination of business fundamentals and specialized athletic industry knowledge gave Brungardt a competitive edge. The sport management program expanded her understanding of the industry's various facets, from marketing partnerships to the financial underpinnings of professional sports organizations.

"I took a class in the sport management master’s program that gave me a deeper understanding of what a career in marketing partnerships looks like, which was incredibly helpful," Brungardt notes. "The courses in the program really open your eyes to career paths and opportunities you might not have considered before."

This dual academic approach—general business principles paired with specialized sport industry knowledge—created the foundation upon which Brungardt would build her successful career.

Armed with her dual degrees, Brungardt set her sights on breaking into the professional sports world. While completing her master's program, Brungardt gained valuable hands-on experience through KU's required internship component, preparing for the busy schedule of sports industry professionals.

"It's fun when you're working in sports, but you're also working 12-hour days," Brungardt reflects. This early exposure to the realities of the event-based work of sports management proved invaluable in preparing her for future roles.

In a chance moment, Brungardt took a father and daughter on a tour of the KU School of Business. After conducting what she considered a routine tour, the impressed father—who had connections to the sports industry—contacted program leadership to advocate for Brungardt. This led to a chain of introductions that eventually connected her with Lauren Cohen, a vice president at the NBA.

“During my senior year, I did half my spring break in Miami and half in New York. I came to the NBA Headquarters, met with Lauren Cohen, who is a vice president here and tried to make a pretty good impression," Brungardt recalls. Though no immediate job opportunity resulted, this connection would later prove crucial.

After graduation, Brungardt took a strategic first step in her professional career by targeting a dream internship.

"I knew I wanted to work for the NBA. Specifically in Miami. I wanted to spend one year there at least," Brungardt explains. "I knew I wanted to try a new city. I wanted to be somewhere warm. I grew up in Kansas City, so I was ready to get out of the cold weather." The move was made easier by having a friend relocating to Miami at the same time, offering a comfortable transition to a new city.

Brungardt secured a position as a Corporate Partnerships Intern with the Miami Heat for the 2023-2024 season. This role allowed her to build essential experience in sports marketing partnerships while working for a prestigious NBA team. However, as is common with seasonal internships in professional sports, her position came with an end date.

"As you near the end you think, okay, what’s next? You need a new job because your internship ends when the season ends," Brungardt explains. "But my goal was always to work for NBA HQ." When a role opened on the Global Partnerships team at NBA Headquarters, Brungardt's hard work and networking efforts started to pay off.

An agency contact Brungardt met at the HEAT connected her with the NBA and put in a good word for her. The process moved with remarkable speed and within a week she had an interview. Brungardt's previous networking also played a crucial role during the interview process. The connection she had made with Lauren Cohen during her senior year spring break proved valuable, as Cohen became one of her interviewers for the position.

"Lauren was my second-to-last interview…it was a really full circle moment for my senior year: connecting with someone during school and then having them be one of my interviewers," Brungardt shares.

After completing six interviews, Brungardt was hired by the NBA within a month of applying. The position was highly competitive, highlighting the critical importance of networking in landing coveted sports industry positions.

Today, Brungardt serves as an Associate Manager on the Global Partnerships team. Her responsibilities include supporting projects on partnership accounts and supporting executive leadership, providing her with exposure to multiple facets of the organization.

Drawing from her rapid ascent in the sports industry, Brungardt offers valuable insights for aspiring sport management professionals. Her experience underscores several key principles that have proven essential to her success.

When asked what advice she would give to students considering a career in sports, Brungardt emphatically responds: "Network, network, network. That is always a huge piece, especially in sports. It's about who you know just as much as what you know."

Her own career trajectory exemplifies this principle. From an impromptu campus tour that led to an industry connection, to leveraging relationships from her Miami HEAT internship to secure an NBA position, Brungardt's professional journey demonstrates how strategic networking can open doors that might otherwise remain closed.

Beyond formal networking, Brungardt emphasizes that interpersonal skills play crucial roles in sports industry success. "How you treat people is a huge thing,” she says, “It is so understated how being a kind person, and someone that people want to work with, is half the battle," she advises.

The collaborative nature of sports organizations means that personality fit is often as important as technical qualifications. "Specifically, in sports there is a saying–you're not doing heart surgery. They’re going to pick people that they want to work with," Brungardt notes. "You want to work with people that are kind to other people, enjoyable to be around, easy to collaborate with."

Perhaps most tellingly, Brungardt advocates for generosity and helpfulness as both professional and personal values. Reflecting on how a simple act of giving a campus tour ultimately influenced her career path, she advises: "Whenever an opportunity arises, I'd always say: help people. That is a big aspect of my life. If I'm able to help someone, I try to take those opportunities."

This philosophy also applies to maintaining relationships once they’re built. “Be kind and do thoughtful things for others—it really comes full circle,” Brungardt says. “You’ll find that people are more willing to go out of their way for you when you lead with kindness, simply because it’s the right thing to do.”

Throughout her advice, Brungardt acknowledges how her educational background at KU prepared her for industry challenges. From specific courses like sports finance that helped her understand salary caps to marketing principles applied in partnership activations, her academic foundation provided practical knowledge she applies daily.

"Having knowledge about marketing in general is helpful in a world where our partners come from all industries," she explains, demonstrating the direct application of classroom concepts to professional responsibilities.

Having achieved her primary career goal of working at the NBA, Brungardt now faces the exciting challenge of setting new career aspirations. Her forward-looking perspective demonstrates both professional ambition and personal values that continue to shape her career trajectory.

Brungardt views her current position as an opportunity to develop comprehensive knowledge of basketball's premier organization. "To work for the NBA headquarters is kind of like the pinnacle of working for basketball," she says.

Rather than immediately seeking new organizations or roles, Brungardt plans to deepen her expertise within the NBA ecosystem. "In the next few years, I definitely want to stay here, build a foundation, learn all aspects of the business more so than just marketing partnerships," she shares.

Her role offers exposure to multiple facets of the organization, creating valuable learning opportunities. "Along with assisting the Executive Vice President, I also work on the marketing partnership side,” Brungardt explains, “My manager also oversees our business development/media group, which includes sales, sponsorships, media deals and new media rights," Brungardt notes. "There are so many facets of the NBA to learn."

Brungardt also expresses interest in emerging basketball initiatives that could present future professional opportunities. "[The NBA] is exploring a European league," she mentions, "It would be interesting to learn about working in a completely new market."

Brungardt also has a passion for serving her community; she volunteers as a tutor for the nonprofit Prison Cells to PhD and hopes to someday work more closely with criminal justice reform. For now, Brungardt is working on another academic challenge—an MBA. "KU was an easy choice for me. It's the only school I'll ever go to. I'm getting my third degree right now, and I'm getting it from KU," she states proudly. "I'm just loyal to Kansas. That's the only school I want to go to. It's the only school that I've ever been passionate about," Brungardt explains.

Cori Brungardt's journey from KU to the NBA exemplifies the potential of combining strategic education, determined networking, and personal values in pursuit of success. The interdisciplinary approach of the KU sport management master’s program—combining broad business principles with specialized sport industry knowledge—equipped Brungardt with a versatile skill set applicable across multiple professional contexts.

"For me it was helpful to see what there is in business, and then also what there is specifically in sports," Brungardt explains, highlighting the value of KU's comprehensive educational model.

The program's emphasis on practical experience through internships helped facilitate Brungardt's transition from academic to professional environments. These experiences prepared her for the unique demands of sports industry careers.

Perhaps most significantly, KU's focus on networking and relationship-building proved instrumental in Brungardt's career advancement. The program's formalized networking channels complemented Brungardt's natural relationship-building abilities to create career-defining opportunities.

For students considering careers in sport management, Brungardt's path offers both inspiration and practical guidance. Her rapid ascent from student to NBA employee demonstrates that with the right educational foundation, strategic networking, and personal determination, even the most competitive positions in sports are attainable.

*This program is a Master of Science in Education (M.S.E.) degree in health, sport management, and exercise science with an emphasis in sport management.