Former University of South Carolina (USC) basketball player B.J. Mack has made his father’s entrepreneurial dreams a reality.
According to the USC student newspaper The Daily Gamecock, his father, Brian, had once owned and operated a barbershop years ago that was centered around his interest in basketball. However, Brian was displaced from the business after 26 years because of highway construction in the area.
B.J., who was raised in the barbershop, wanted to restore his father’s vision, NBC’s WCNC in Charlotte, NC, reports.
“I’m a sports and entertainment management major, so … I came to them with the idea of, ‘Hey, since I know you really want to do a barbershop, you’ve been talking about it for pretty much 20 years of my life, why not be able to help you out with it?’” B.J. explained, per WCNC.
On June 29, 2024, House of Hoops Barbershop launched near downtown Charlotte, and it led a charity shoe drive for the community at its grand opening.
What’s more, the venture was supported through B.J.’s earnings from name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. When Brian learned of B.J.’s intention to invest his own money, he was initially hesitant but found comfort in the fact that he would be more committed to ensuring his son’s investment would not be in vain.
“At first, no father really wants to take his son’s money to do something,” Brian explained, according to The Daily Gamecock. “I was like, ‘No, we’re not doing that. You’ve got to come up with something else…’ (but) he knew it was near and dear to my heart, so I would really put 100% into it. It being tied to him only put that much more passion into making sure it was a success.”
B.J. also shared his sentiments on investing in the barbershop. He doubled down on the desire to help his family and community and also amplified the efforts of Armando Bacot, another former UNC basketball player. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Bacot, who claims to have earned $2 million from NIL deals — including Wingstop, Intuit TurboTax, and Topps — invested in a hotel and in Athletes.org (AO), a player association assisting college athletes with NIL deals.
“You have people like me, you have people like Armando Bacot, who gives back to the community or to their family to be able to help out with them because, you know, you never know the situation that people are in,” B.J. expressed, per WCNC.
