Digital Pioneers Academy is trying to build a basketball program that prepares its players for the next level. (Courtesy of Digital Pioneers Academy)
With more money flowing through the system and policies consistently changing, major college athletic departments have tried to stay modern by hiring general managers. The job description includes identifying talent to recruit to the program; facilitating name, image and likeness (NIL) deals; and maintaining relationships with boosters.
In early June, Digital Pioneers Academy — a computer-science-focused public charter school in Southeast Washington founded in 2017 — hired a GM for its boys’ and girls’ basketball teams: Lawrence Moten, a Washington native and Syracuse University basketball’s all-time leading scorer.
Digital Pioneers may not be first — Oak Hill, a well-known Virginia private school program, hired former NBA star and alum Carmelo Anthony as co-GM — but it is an early adopter.
“Clearly there is a changing landscape in terms of high school sports, college sports and professional sports,” Digital Pioneers CEO Mashea Ashton said. “There’s no one better than Lawrence Moten to really help our young people navigate the journey and the pathway given the changing landscape but also just given the opportunity that exists.”
“The job description is to assist me as the athletic director in the logistics of team’s travel, team’s movement, scheduling games and also trying to make sure that we do our due diligence on the kids that we’re looking to bring in,” Digital Pioneers’ Robert Harris said.
Harris said he hired Moten based on their connection — Moten, 53, attended Archbishop Carroll with Harris — and his experience both as a college and pro athlete as well as the network he would bring to the school’s athletic department. Even though he didn’t play during the modern era of college sports, Moten can connect athletes and coaches with people in NIL and recruiting circles.
Digital Pioneers aims to employ an athletics staff that mirrors what a college program offers. That setup can prepare students and delegate responsibilities so coaches can focus on their teams’ on-field performance.
As a public charter school, Digital Pioneers can recruit athletes, and Moten hopes to woo top talents whose families may not want to or cannot pay tuition at a private school.
Moten’s degree from Syracuse is in early-childhood education. Before coming to Digital Pioneers, he led a youth basketball development program at Syracuse and coached at Gallaudet, the D.C. university for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Moten said he will be working full time in the Digital Pioneers school building to develop relationships with the students.
Bill Carter, an NIL educator and consultant for a service called Student-Athlete Insights, said one of the biggest advantages of hiring someone such as Moten is his name recognition. Athletes who want to play college basketball could take advantage of his network to get in the door of the recruitment processes.
“When it comes to getting scholarships for these kids, they have to do their part. There’s no question about it. But my main thing is just giving them a true opportunity to get a free education and also take them far in life, whatever business or whatever venture they might have,” said Moten, who played in the NBA from 1995 to 1998 with the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Washington Wizards.
Digital Pioneers graduated its first class of seniors this month. All 66 were accepted to a college or university, Ashton said.
Digital Pioneers’ fledgling athletic program is already beginning to win at a high level. The football team played its first varsity season last fall — it went undefeated in the regular season and won the Public Charter School Athletic Association championship. The school began its football program after four students who had expressed interest in playing were killed in shootings between Halloween 2022 and July 2023; Ashton believes if the school had a football program then, those students might have been at practice instead.
Ashton hired Gary Johnson and Lonnie Harrell from Eastern High to coach the boys and girls’ basketball teams, respectively. Both Eastern teams won D.C. State Athletic Association Class A championships this year.
Carter expects a high school general manager won’t be dealing with managing money as much as a college GM does. Ashton and Moten expect navigating NIL to be part of the job, though Ashton said none of the athletes have received a deal to this point.
There could be utility, Carter said, in a general manager negotiating and identifying NIL opportunities, such as the team-wide package California powerhouse St. John Bosco signed in 2022. Moten said Digital Pioneers expects to expand its national profile next school year by playing a basketball schedule with significant travel. The school is emphasizing athletics and wants to compete with the area’s top private schools. Moten said part of that means preparing the athletes for business opportunities now, in college and in their post-sports careers.
“The earlier these kids know the business side of the game — it’s different now,” Moten said. “When I was growing up, it’s all about the loyalty and the tradition and just loving the game. The kids still love the game, but it’s more of a business side. The quicker you can learn the business side of the game, I think the better off you’ll be.”