HPU Students Get Career Advice from NBA Orlando Magic Executive Charlie Freeman

Charlie Freeman, president of business operations for the NBA’s Orlando Magic and High Point University’s Sport Business Executive in Residence, recently shared career advice and encouraged HPU students to accept and learn from job reviews. Pictured were Dr. Arden Slavov, assistant professor of sport management, and Freeman during a Life Skills and Leadership Series session titled “Crush Your First Review.”

HIGH POINT, N.C., April 15, 2025 – Charlie Freeman, president of business operations for the NBA’s Orlando Magic and High Point University’s Sport Business Executive in Residence, recently shared career advice and encouraged HPU students to accept and learn from job performance reviews.

While on campus April 3, Freeman conducted a Life Skills and Leadership Series session titled “Crush Your First Review,” moderated by Dr. Arden Slavov, assistant professor of sport management. Freeman advised students to be receptive, take notes and ask questions when they get performance reviews.

“Say, ‘I appreciate the feedback and where do you think next time I can do better?’” Freeman said. “Take ownership and don’t be afraid to ask for advice. Say, ‘Coach me, advise me.’ If you use those words to tee it up, they’ll see you’re willing to take feedback. It shows you want to get better.”

Freeman discussed how teamwork and lifelong learning are critical in any career. He also reviewed how his early experience with internships in different fields led him to know what he wanted to pursue and what he didn’t.

“When you’re in that first job, take on as much responsibility as you can handle to prove that you deserve to be there and that you can do the work,” he said. “When you do that and you impress your boss or supervisor, they’re probably going to give you more responsibility. If you get responsibility, the money and title are going to follow. That’s how you progress on your career path.”

As a learning exercise, students divided into groups inside the Callicutt Life Skills Theater to consider professional responses to various job review scenarios. They then presented those responses for Freeman to discuss.

While on campus, Freeman taught a freshman and sophomore class on professional development in sport management and shared lunch with Business Fellows. He also recorded a podcast with Jim Scott, an assistant professor of the practice of sports media, and Amy Downing, a junior sport management major from Cleveland, Ohio.

Freeman’s Life Skills Seminar allowed HPU students to work toward earning a tuition-free certification in coachability. Students who attend four designated Access to Innovators sessions can earn a Life Skills certification and enhance their professional credentials.

What Students Learned

Freeman’s advice on how to set yourself apart not only from other college students trying to get jobs but other employees within the organization was most important for Alex Muravski, a freshman business administration major with a double minor in sales and leadership.

“He said the No. 1 thing people get wrong is failing to follow up,” said Muravski, who is from Tulsa, Oklahoma. “For example, you get the job and then never follow up with the boss to get advice and feedback. The second thing I remember was he said, ‘Never be scared to ask for advice.’ If someone says this is where you’re going wrong, don’t just say, ‘All right, I want to do better.’ Say, ‘I want to do better; how can I do that?’”

Freeman’s tips for implementing feedback in a professional manner stood out most for Jack Paris, a freshman dual major in finance and sport management.

“It’s easy to take negative feedback personally, but to turn that into more constructive criticism is important. It allows us to grow as people and in what we do as a job,” said Paris, who is from Charlotte, North Carolina.

“I really liked his emphasis on relationship building. Especially for what I want to do, it comes up all the time,” said Carson Vien, a senior finance major from Albany, New York. “I’ve been interning at Northwestern Mutual for two years now, so when it comes to making new connections or establishing relationships and maintaining them, that’s a huge part. And I really liked how he tied it into the Orlando Magic.”