Alumni Spotlight: Mengyang Liu’s NBA Dream Came True

Mengyang Liu, China
Class of 2018, M.S. Sports Management

Manager, Chinese Social Media & Partnership at Brooklyn Nets

”International student identity can be a strength rather than a weakness. You have the unique resources and experience from your home country.” 

Mengyang completed his undergraduate in China with a bachelor's degree in International Business. To pursue his sports dream, he applied to the University of Michigan for further study. He started his on-campus job as a RecSports staff and tried to find a summer intern after one-year’s study. After interviewing with a NBA team for several rounds, he was told he did not get the job. At that moment, he decided to go back to China and then found a shadowing opportunity to work as a frontline sports reporter in Beijing.

That experience opened the door of the NBA for him. Later, he got the opportunity to cover the  Detroit Piston as a Chinese reporter for Tencent during his second year at Michigan. Thanks to the connections he accumulated at NBA, after graduation, he found a job as the business developer in a marketing firm at LA. At the same time, he still covered the Los Angeles Lakers stories. The most precious reward he gained during his graduate study is the sports environment of Michigan, as well as the alumni network. When he moved to LA, he noticed the alumnus Moritz Wagner was selected by Lakers at the same time. Fortunately, he interviewed him as the first Chinese journalist.

However, Mengyang faced many other challenges during his work as an international student. The biggest difference he pointed out was the mindset. In the U.S., reporters are more proactive and believe that nothing is impossible. He had to change his mindset of always being polite and stretched out for more opportunities. Starting to put forward the request for an interview and video shooting, he finally got more chances to finish many great stories and videos.

When it comes to networking, he shared his own story of how he got the job at Nets. “The most important thing is to sell yourself and raise their interest in a short time. That is the key that they want to have more conversations with you.” Therefore, he just sent the email to the direct contact person to sell himself as the most appropriate person for the position. And thanks to that email, he continued his NBA journey in New York.

 

Written by Yajie (Tina) Wang

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Graduate Student

China