Athletes First is a full-service agency which represents top NFL athletes, coaches and college coaching personnel.
Laguna Hills, CA
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Saturday spent the right way ‼️
Another stop on the Tailgate Tour in the books. Thanks for bringing the energy Athens 🔥
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Georgia on our minds 🍑‼️
The Athletes First Tailgate Tour is heading to Athens this Saturday, with a special appearance from @Flyguy2stackz
See you there! 👀
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Sports Business Journal spoke with David Mulugheta, President of Team Sports, about today's news that Athletes First has launched a new basketball representation division.
The article touches on the formation of the division, the 25 years of dominance in football representation that laid the groundwork for this move, the addition of John Noonan and Brandon James to the practice, and the agency's existing footprint in college sports and basketball that made this the right time to expand.
#A1Family | @A1Hoops_
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Read More: sportsbusinessjournal.com/Ar…
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Welcome to the Family, Brandon James 🏀‼️
James joins Athletes First after 14 seasons with Spurs Sports & Entertainment, most recently as Senior Vice President of Strategic Growth and Deputy General Counsel. There he oversaw player and coach contracts, salary cap strategy and CBA matters, and helped lead the organization's strategic growth — including its expansion into Austin and international markets, and new business and partnerships. He previously spent four years with IMG's Talent Marketing Division, giving him experience on both the team and talent sides of the industry. A native of Atlanta, James is now based in Austin.
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Welcome to the Family, John Noonan 🏀‼️
Noonan joins Athletes First after 12 years at Octagon, most recently as Senior Director of Basketball. There he helped lead Octagon's basketball group into the collegiate NIL space, building its structure and strategy and overseeing more than $30 million in collegiate deals. Over his career, Noonan has represented NBA Draft picks, EuroLeague players and college stars, with deep relationships across grassroots, college and professional basketball worldwide. A Philadelphia native, he will be based in the area.
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David Mulugheta, President of Team Sports and the top-ranked NFL agent on Forbes’ 2025 Most Powerful Sports Agents list, will lead the new division. The agency has appointed longtime basketball industry veterans Brandon James and John Noonan, who will both drive the practice day to day and will report to Mulugheta.
The new division will represent players at the professional level and in the college NIL space, where Athletes First — "widely regarded as the top firm for representing student-athletes," per USA TODAY Sports — already runs the most successful college representation practice in football, led by Vice President Joe Ferrari.
The practice also draws on the agency's existing representation of college basketball coaches, along with internal leadership from Scott Gaffield, an Athletes First executive and college basketball coaching agent, and Carmen Wallace, one of Athletes First’s founding members, a certified NFL and NBA agent, and former Duke University men's basketball player.
"We named this company Athletes First before we had a single client, and for 25 years every decision has been judged against one question: is this putting the athlete first?" said Brian Murphy, Founder and CEO of Athletes First. "That question was never about one sport. David, John, and Brandon will build basketball the way our people built football — do the right things, with the right people, for the right reasons."
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