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Athlete Entrepreneurs Find Success with MSEI Degree

Athlete Entrepreneurs Find Success with MSEI Degree

While playing on one of the nation’s best basketball teams, these graduates found time to earn their master’s degrees in entrepreneurship and innovation.

by: Alexander Bernard
04.30.24
USC Women's Basketball Team on Senior Day

(L to R) MSEI graduates Roxane Makolo, Kaitlyn Davis, McKenzie Forbes, and Kayla Padilla.

[Photo Courtesy of USC Athletics]

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The USC Trojans women’s basketball team saw no shortage of success this season, winning the final Pac-12 Tournament, earning a spot in theMarch Madness tournament, and advancing to the Elite Eight. Yet, their achievements aren’t limited to the hardwood. Four players, Kayla Padilla and Roxane Makolo, Kaitlyn Davis, and McKenzie Forbes will graduate this spring with master’s degrees in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (MSEI). The MSEI program is run by the Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.

Makolo and Padilla sat down with Marshall News to discuss their journey to Marshall.

Grad transfer Makolo came to USC from Texas Christian University specifically for the opportunities that Marshall and the Greif Center afforded her to forge a new path.

“In entrepreneurship, it’s always something new. You’re seeking to bring something that the world needs,” Makolo said. “This degree really makes you think outside of the box in terms of: how can I make this different … but still add something new? You’re always innovating and by innovating you’re constantly changing how things in the world work.”

Kayla Padilla, previously at the University of Pennsylvania, also transferred to USC to play basketball and earn her master’s. Before signing, she visited the campus and learned about the Greif Center from other MSEI transfer student athletes. She was drawn to the program’s flexibility with a demanding practice schedule and the tight-knit class cohorts.

“What’s so cool about this program is that I get to share this experience with three of my other teammates,” Padilla said. “The size of the program isn’t too big, so you get to know a lot of your classmates on a deeper level … The experience has been great.”

It’s not easy to handle the rigorous time commitment of basketball or a demanding graduate school curriculum. Padilla and Makolo, along with Davis and Forbes, did it all with support from the Greif Center and USC Athletics. Padilla’s perseverance and ambition wasn’t learned overnight; it developed over years of highly competitive basketball.

I credit so much of who I am — as not only a person but a student — to my time on the basketball floor and how much carryover there is as what it means to be a good player, a good teammate, and how that translates to being a good student in the classroom. Just speaking for the four of us, our commitment to success in basketball is easily translated to wanting to challenge ourselves with this master’s program.

— Kayla Padilla

MSEI ’24

“I credit so much of who I am — as not only a person but a student — to my time on the basketball floor and how much carryover there is as what it means to be a good player, a good teammate, and how that translates to being a good student in the classroom,” Padilla said. “Just speaking for the four of us, our commitment to success in basketball is easily translated to wanting to challenge ourselves with this master’s program.”

Padilla said that her basketball career will end after USC, and she will move into an accounting role. She has big entrepreneurial dreams.“Later down the line, my goal is to start my own company. I think the foundation that I’ve had here at Marshall will help me in whatever field I go into, but will especially be relevant when that time comes to start something of my own.”

Makolo’s post-grad plans are motivated by her own challenges as an international basketball player. Raised in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Makolo worked hard to be recognized by American collegiate basketball programs. According to her, this is a common struggle for many international players. She believes her time at Greif could help bridge that gap for other young women, much in the same way that Basketball Without Borders spreads the sport in Africa and Europe.

“A lot of kids don’t get the chance to experience playing in the States, and I want to do something similar [to Basketball Without Borders], like an academy in underdeveloped countries that’s going to help people to reach their dream and eventually play in the NCAA,” Makolo said.

Makolo isn’t alone. With the advent of NIL, hundreds of athletes are using their platforms and resources to give back to their communities. Makolo often recalls messages from young basketball players back home who are inspired by her journey to USC. That support drives her to do more.

“You might not think that you have influence power on others, but when you look at the stuff that you do — you affect people in a way,” Makolo said. “That really opened my eyes because sometimes I [thought], ‘We’re not like LeBron, We’re not Kobe.’ … But if you think about it, there’s people in town or back home that still look up to us … Your impact can be not as big as the ‘celebrities,’ but you still have an impact in the world.”

In March, Makolo, Padilla, and the rest of the team closed out an incredible season. On May 10, they’ll end their USC journey, and launch new entrepreneurial adventures. they’ll make the transition to alumni in the Trojan Network, each forever linked with hundreds of thousands of alumni.

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