Las Vegas / April 28, 2022 - A team of students from JCSU wowed the judges so thoroughly at this year’s HBCU Battle of the Brains last month they were selected as the NFL Favorite and were chosen to participate in this year’s NFL Draft.
The students were selected as finalists in the 24-hour competition taking place in Austin, Texas, as part of South By Southwest. Part of the competition was to solve a problem for the NFL and develop a business plan, executive summary, project proposal, functional prototype (mobile application), promo video and pitch deck to show how they would solve the issue.
After iterating their ideas throughout the day with the assistance of experts from the NFL, Dell, VMWare, Expedia, American Express, Atlassian and EA, the Golden Bulls team stepped up to present their solution.
The team’s hard work paid off. Out of 30 HBCU teams, JCSU was one of seven teams selected to present on stage to executives from the NFL, Amazon and Expedia. Their presentation earned them a standing ovation from the audience, and they were chosen as the third team to be selected for the finals.
Additionally, they were chosen as the NFL Favorite and were invited to participate in the NFL Draft in Las Vegas from April 28 - May 1. The team will present their concept to NFL executives and meet with players, coaches and scouts to refine their concept. They also assisted on-air and backstage with announcements of picks through the seven rounds of the draft.
JCSU’s HBCU Battle of the Brains team is comprised of Paige Davis, Tanaka Mbavarira, Jamerya Kelley, Kiya Herron, Jerome Adonis, Hannah Anderson, Tasia Boiling and Jackson Kakwenya.
