TJ Beisner leaves Kentucky basketball program

Kentucky Director of Player Development TJ Beisner is in his final week with the men’s basketball program, he announced this weekend.

It ends five years working alongside head coach John Calipari and two overseeing the program’s name, image and likeness strategy and execution. Beisner led and supported the Wildcats’ brand-building strategy in the new NIL era while also monitoring changes in NCAA legislation and trends across college athletics to develop strategies and solutions to keep Kentucky at the forefront of college basketball

He also organized and managed the program’s community service involvement while providing support to players on non-basketball issues, along with developing team-wide events focused on educating student-athletes on personal development.

Now, his time at Kentucky comes to a close.

As our family prepares to enter a new chapter together, I just want to say a couple things…

To all the student-athletes I’ve had a chance to work with:

THANK YOU! Being a small piece of your world has been the greatest blessing of my career. I love you all and I am so grateful for every single one of you. I’ve tried to get in touch with each of you and thank you personally, but if we didn’t connect, please know your kindness and acceptance has allowed me to take care of my family and I will forever be grateful to you. I am here for ANYTHING you need.

Today, tomorrow, twenty years from now.

Of course a big THANK YOU the GOAT, John Calipari. You’ve always seen the best in me and challenged me to believe in myself. What I’ve learned from you could fit into 100 books. I walked into your world five years ago wondering what to expect and worried that you might be a little crazy. All these years later, I now KNOW you’re a little crazy but you’ve become my brother for life. You, Ellen, Erin, Megan and Brad have treated our family like your own and we are grateful for every single one of you and your kindness. We might be moving, but we aren’t going away!

Thank you for everything!

Monique and I are thankful for an incredibly blessed chapter here in Lexington and excited to see what God has in store for our family in His next chapter!

IG: tjbeisner

Beisner was instrumental in relationship-building within the program, specifically among players, while also navigating the uncharted waters of NIL — putting the Wildcats in position to secure legal, yet lucrative financial and branding opportunities.

A personal decision to move on, Beisner is currently weighing his job options, namely among high-major college programs and sports agencies.

“My trusted lieutenant (TJ Beisner) is moving on,” John Calipari said Monday. “I couldn’t be happier for him and his family. From Martin Newton to David Scott to Eric Lindsey to Metz Camfield…they’ve all used their roles in this basketball program to move their family forward. TJ ended up being the jack of all trades and I’m going to miss our morning calls and my keep-me-up-to-date calls. But he’ll always have me in his corner!”

Prior to his time as Director of Player Development, the Coppell, TX native worked closely with the men’s basketball program and UK Athletics as the director of digital media and content development for UK Sports & Campus Marketing. He was also the editor of CoachCal.com and assisted in the social media and content creation of Calipari’s digital platforms.

His start came right here, though, as an editor and contributor for Kentucky Sports Radio. He was also the host of KSTV where he created the greatest segment in the history of television, One Question with Zay.

To help with your NCAA Tournament blues, at the request of @Mr_Nance47, here's a montage of "One Question w/ Zay." pic.twitter.com/EdNByo6EAp

— TJ Beisner (@tjbeisner) March 19, 2020

Thank you, God bless.