Clothing brand founder. Sports marketer. Financial advisor. Entrepreneur. CEO. These are just a few future titles for several members of the Missouri S&T’s men’s basketball team.  

The team is headed to the NCAA Division II National Tournament for the first time in almost 30 years. As the No. 1 seed for the Midwest Region, they will face Malone University in a matchup at the University of Illinois Springfield on Saturday, March 15. 

This tournament berth comes after a season that saw S&T win its first regular season Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) championship and at one point be ranked the No. 5 team in the nation. 

But these Miners aren’t just great players; they’re already laying the groundwork for game-changing business careers beyond basketball. 

#22, Michael Onunkwor: Building his brand 

Michael Onunkwor, a junior in business and management systems from Jefferson City, Missouri, isn’t just dreaming of his future as a business owner — he’s already started. Last year, he created his own clothing brand business: Organic Visions. 

“I want to create a community of people who feel comfortable wearing their own kind of clothes and expressing themselves.” Onunkwor says. “I want to see if I can implement my sense of style in the fashion community, see how far I can take it and see if it can be made into something big.” 

So far, Onunkwor has sold almost 60 pieces of clothing with Organic Visions. But he wasn’t alone; he had help from teammates and classmates. Sam Wright, a senior in business and management systems, took professional photographs of his clothing line using S&T students as models. One of the models was Lovell Williams, No. 14 on the team. 

“They were really cool, and I appreciate them for working with me to help create my vision and bring it to life,” Onunkwor says.  

Most of the sales came from Missouri and a handful of basketball teammates purchased the clothes, but he also had orders from Virginia, Florida and Texas. Through S&T’s business and management systems program, Onunkwor is learning the necessary skills to manage the company, especially when it comes to finances. 

“The finance class has really helped with managing my account balances, my taxes and inventory levels,” Onunkwor says. “It’s all similar, so I have some knowledge of what I’m doing. It will really benefit me in the future.” 

#5, Ryan Sroka: Future financial advisor  

Ryan Sroka, a graduate student in the master of business administration (MBA) program, came to S&T from Illinois Wesleyan University and felt like a basketball star immediately. During his first week, he was walking into Kroger when a local man spotted him as a Miner. 

“He saw the S&T basketball shirt and said, ‘No way, you’re on the team!’ That was literally the first week I got here,” Sroka said. “We started talking and became friends. His name is Rick, and he comes to a lot of the games.” 

Sroka, from Lake in the Hills, Illinois, wants to become a financial advisor. That passion was sparked by his parents, who both worked at AT&T for over 30 years and retired in their 50s. Growing up, they let him attend meetings with their family’s financial advisor. 

“It just seemed really cool to me to help another family. That’s part of the reason I got into finance,” Sroka says. “Because of him, my parents were able to retire early and come to every single one of my games. I’ve been really fortunate for that. If I can help a family like that, it would be really cool.” 

As a recent transfer student, Sroka is newer to the Miners team, but it didn’t take long to get close to his teammates and help them accomplish their goals. 

“There’s all these worries coming into this year, but it was answered in a week,” he said. “I called home and said, ‘I’m fine. I have best friends on the team.’ We’ve pushed each other since day one, and just to see the level of success has been amazing.” 

#1, Blaise Beauchamp: A future of entrepreneurship  

Blaise Beauchamp, a graduate student in the MBA program from Minnetonka, Minnesota, has a passion for business sparked by his father, who owns a successful tennis court cleaning business in Palm Springs, California.  

Growing up, his family talked about a potential future in the family business, or starting his own business of practical services. Beauchamp is also considering a career in financial analysis. 

“I do have my accounting degree, so I do like financial analysis, more on the accounting side,” he says. “But you never know.” 

Beauchamp is new to S&T, coming here from the University of Evansville. He appreciates the work ethic of the campus and of his teammates. 

“That’s the culture here — everyone figures things out and takes responsibility. It’s all about being reliable, and that’s something they’ve really taught us,” he says. “That’s why I think we’ve had such a great year.” 

#24, Jack Zarr: Potential project manager and real-estate mogul 

Jack Zarr, a junior in business and management systems from St. Louis, always liked the idea of going into a business career. In high school, he was “all about business.” 

However, he had a curiosity for engineering. He came to S&T considering an engineering management degree but ended up in business and management systems by mistake – but he quickly realized this was meant to be. 

“I’ve always liked the thought of starting up a business and entrepreneurship,” Zarr says. “It started with my high school assistant basketball coach who taught most of the business classes. He was such a good teacher. That really sparked my interest in this career. I think this was meant to happen.” 

In the future, Zarr is thinking about becoming either a real-estate mogul or a project manager. He has an internship lined up with Byrne & Jones Construction for project management. 

“I’m excited for this internship. I like construction in general. I know there’s a lot of opportunities there,” he says. “But I feel like real estate could be a really nice side project and hopefully take over my career in the future.” 

Zarr said the team’s friendships both on and off the court have helped lead to their success. 

“These past two years, we’ve had the dream and the vision of making it this far, and it’s just never really fallen into place,” he said. “This year, we got the right guys. Everybody’s one team. We’re one together. Everybody’s playing together. We’re best friends on the court and off the court. 

#0, Tucker Morris: Future sports mogul 

Tucker Morris, a first-year student in business and management systems from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, always had a passion for both business and sports. He hopes to merge the two together to become a sports marketer or an agent. 

“Being a sports agent always sounded cool, or sports marketing for individual teams,” Morris says. “As an agent, I’d help with endorsements, deals and contracts. As a marketer, I would help with promotions at games, giveaways and commercials.” 

Morris says S&T’s business program integrates technology and business, which will help lead him to his dream career. 

“Right now, I’m studying information systems, which I know plays a key part in business nowadays,” Morris says. “Knowing that I’ll graduate already with a decent knowledge of that is super encouraging.” 

On the team, Morris credits their success to their events off the court. He said they have movie nights, homemade dinners (all made by Onunkwor, the designated team cook) and other team activities. 

“We actively find ways to get together beyond practice and to be a group,” he says. “I think that’s really important to the success we’ve been having so far.” 

#23, Adam Rickman: Aspiring entrepreneur 

Adam Rickman, a first-year student in business and management systems from Washington, Missouri, is inspired by his successful father, Joel, the senior vice president of Equifax.  

“With my dad having done really well at managing a business, he helped me realize this is the path I want to take,” Rickman says. “I’d love to get to that level one day. I’ve always been intrigued with the idea of being an entrepreneur.” 

It may only be his first year of college, but Rickman is certain that S&T will prepare him for the world of business. 

“The program makes me work harder every day, and it’s good that it’s a lot of technology-based courses, which will obviously be used more in the future,” he says. “My classes have already given me an advantage.” 

When it comes to the team, Rickman says their success comes from their reliability both on the court and in the classroom. 

“We all get along really well. Not even just in basketball, but in the classroom,” he said. “Everyone knows they can lean on each other. Our whole team is very smart, so everyone can really bounce off each other and get ideas from each other if they’re struggling. That’s why we’re so successful.” 

About Missouri University of Science and Technology   

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.