NEWS - Texas Southern University

expects from a PSP client. Though it has very little to do with sports, it haseverything to do with life; issues of trust, integrity, honesty and respect areparamount in life, and the Postons want to make sure their new clients are upto the task.“Whether it’s your mother, sister, or your wife, you still have to deal withwomen. You have to know how to deal with all people in a respectful way.To do that, you have to be humble. Talent is nothing but a gift from God,”Posten explained.The two brothers view their prospective clients as more than customerswho benefit from their services, but as partners and, in many cases, extendedfamily. Striving to assist the athletes in their charge with making sound businessdecisions, the agents not only negotiate favorable contracts and endorsementdeals, but also help with major expenditures such as automobiles andhomes.“When guys make all that money and end up not having a dime, that reallymakes no sense to me,” Poston lamented. “Sometimes you look at a youngathlete with all these muscles and think that he has some experience in life, butthat’s not always the case. I see people take advantage of them all the time,but they don’t always see it. And when they are led astray or get hurt, it hurtsme.”“I could practice law for the rest of my life… but it wouldn’t be as gratifyingas it is for me to help these young black men,” he continued. Thoughit remains to be seen if Poston will ever re-immerse himself in the practice oflaw, he credits his legal education at TSU’s Thurgood Marshall School of Lawwith instilling in him a unique business savvy.“When I was at TSU, I was editor-in-chief of the law review,” Postonrecalled. “I had a staff for the first time and it required me to perform certainleadership skills so that the publication would be looked upon highly. AsCEO of Professional Sports Planning, I use those same types of leadershipand people skills today. I’ve always loved the place and I’ll always have fondmemories of TSU.”Poston, who resides in Farmington Hills, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, isalso quick to recognize his family for his successes. Barely a moment passeswithout his mentioning how wife Kathy, daughter Alexx (16), and sonsGarrison (13) and Myles (11) have made him the man that he is today. “IfI didn’t have the wife that I have as a support base, I probably wouldn’t benearly successful as I am,” he said. “I measure my success by my family life.I’ll be married 20 years this year… [and] I have three kids who are my realjewels.”Recalling the words of professional baseball legend Jackie Robinson,Poston continued, saying “I try to impact their lives positively everyday, soeven when I’m gone, I’m really still here. To me, that is what life is all about.”With multiple academic degrees, a successful business and a close-knitfamily, one would think Kevin Poston would be riding high. And he is… butnot in the way many others would be. He stays grounded, never allowingluxury cars or grandiose homes to obstruct his view.“I don’t know any Joneses, so I don’t try to keep up with any of them,”he joked. “I’ll always live by humbleness. I’m really just the same guy fromMichigan who went to TSU and wore jeans or khakis everyday. Nothingmuch has ever changed about me. Never will.”GENERATIONS OF PRIDE • Summer 2004 11