Since its founding in 2005, the New York Red Bulls Academy has established itself as one of the premium developers of talent in North America, producing a number of gifted players who have gone on to thrive in Europe and MLS: Tyler Adams, Timothy Weah, Matt Miazga, and others among them.
A key pipeline for funneling talent into white-collar work has sprung a big leak that won't be easy to fix. Consultants are no strangers to volatility. In fact, a big part of their business is advising clients on the best ways to navigate change. BI's Polly Thompson, our resident consulting expert, has extensively reported on these trends. PwC, for example, plans to cut college graduate hiring over the next three years, with AI cited as a primary reason.
"That's like, one of the dumbest things I've ever heard," he said. "They're probably the least expensive employees you have, they're the most leaned into your AI tools." "How's that going to work when ten years in the future you have no one that has learned anything," he added. "My view is that you absolutely want to keep hiring kids out of college and teaching them the right ways to go build software and decompose problems and think about it, just as much as you ever have."
Posted up against a wall of the air-conditioned gym at Peach Jam in mid-July, Tulane coach Ron Hunter prepared to greet an approaching SEC colleague, expecting a handshake and pleasantries. But his powerhouse peer had other intentions for the interaction with Hunter, who has developed multiple players who have transferred to elite programs -- including former Duke star Sion James -- in recent years. "He came over to me and he said, 'Ron, you're doing a hell of a job ... getting kids ready for our level,'" Hunter told ESPN at the basketball camp in North Augusta, South Carolina. "And I didn't know whether to be mad or to say thank you."