SC State business student earns $10,000 scholarship in Thurgood Marshall College Fund/NBA pitch competition
Tayvian Boston is one of 16 HBCU students who participated in the NBA Innovate the Future Program in New York City.
ORANGEBURG, S.C. – For four days in New York City, Tayvian Boston lived and breathed innovation at the National Basketball Association’s headquarters — designing, modeling and pitching ideas to top league executives.
The result? A first-place finish and a $10,000 David J. Stern Scholarship to power his education at South Carolina State University.
“When we got the check for our team — it was named ‘Sharp Shooters’ — and they said we won, I just broke down,” said Boston, who hails from Florence, South Carolina.
The South Carolina State University junior was one of 16 students chosen from more than 300 applicants nationwide for the sixth-annual NBA Innovate the Future Program, led by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and the NBA.
“I was the only student from South Carolina who attended,” he said. “We were at the NBA headquarters all day, every day, working on our case study with my team to create our whole idea of the pitch.”
Building the pitch
Students were paired with participants from other HBCUs, including Howard University, North Carolina A&T University, Bluefield State University and Morehouse College.
“They just paired us up with like our majors or something close to our majors,” Boston said. “Our question was like, ‘How can the NBA give more African Americans from ages 18 to 35 more active in the NBA?’ — like the website and the app and stuff like that.”
The four-day program immersed Boston and his teammates in workshops on design thinking, business modeling, and presentation skills. Boston’s team worked with expert coaches, including Sierra Martin the NBA’s senior manager. The coaches showed them how to use AI tools to strengthen their pitch, add depth to their ideas and sharpen their presentation skills.
“On pitch day, we just basically pitched our idea in front of higher-ups of the NBA and one of the case managers who created the case questions,” Boston said.
The winning idea and life-changing support
Boston’s team proposed an NBA “remix” app that would let fans livestream games and interact with viewers in real time. Viewers could send virtual gifts with the value of each gift converting into earnings for the streamer, creating both fan engagement and new revenue opportunities.
The innovative approach helped the team secure first place — and the $10,000 David J. Stern Scholarship for each member.
Boston said the experience was emotional, not only for the win but for the bonds he formed.
“It was very emotional because the last day we all like built bonds with each other, even with the TMCF staff and the NBA staff,” he said.
The scholarship will make a real difference for him and his family.
“It means a lot with me having my brother, my sister and me in college and my parents working multiple jobs for us to succeed in our college careers,” Boston said. “It takes some of the financial burden off me and my parents.”
Opening doors
Boston believes the experience has set him on a path toward his future career.
“After SC State, I plan on working in like a corporate — like Fortune 500 corporate office or real estate,” he said. “But the plan is to go back to the NBA and probably work in their headquarters or like event management or something like senior management.”
His advice to other SC State students is simple:
“Get in contact with people, tap into their opportunities and their scholarships -- even for freshmen because they have a lot of stuff for freshmen,” Boston said.
