Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field.
 
In this Scholar-Athlete Spotlight, we are featuring Florida Tech men's basketball player Sean Houpt, a senior who is majoring in sports management.  The Danville, Illinois native averaged 14.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game across 26 outings last season, finishing in the top 10 in the Sunshine State Conference for three-pointers made per game and free throw percentage. He also earned an SSC Player of The Week award following his 32-point performance against Rollins on December 4^th.
After transferring from Bradley University following his freshman year, Houpt was named to the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll in July 2021 and the Florida Tech Athletic Director's Honor Roll in each of his first two years at Tech. Sean was also named to the NABC Honors Court following last season.
 
What's your major at Florida Tech and why did you choose this? Is it something that you've always wanted to do?
My major is sports management, and I chose it because I've always loved sports and I want to be able to do something with sports after college, and it would just offer me a great opportunity to do so.
 
Coming from a Division I school, what was it about Florida Tech that drew you here?
There were a couple of things. Obviously great weather and I wanted to get away from home a little bit. I know historically, this is a pretty good program in a great conference, and there are great people down here, so there was a lot that I liked.
 
How do you plan to use your degree after graduation?
I'm not 100% sure yet, but I'd like to work on the ATP Tour. I love tennis and I want to work on the business side of ATP tour.
 
What are some of the exciting projects that you've been able to work on in classes here?  Have you been able to network?
We've done a lot of real-world problems and worked on projects that we've gotten to present in front of real-life businesses and if they liked your ideas, they would take them. I feel like that's been very helpful for me and then I'm interning this semester through the school with you guys (athletic communications department). So that'll also be very valuable.
 
How do you keep everything balanced once the season starts? There's so much that goes on during the three-plus months of your season, how do you make everything work for you?
It's honestly not too hard. Just staying on top of the schoolwork, getting that done and showing up to practice, working hard every day and getting extra work in. It's really not too hard because I enjoy being here. I enjoy everything about it, so it's fun. It doesn't really feel that overwhelming at all ever.
 
How has being a collegiate athlete prepared you for what you're doing now and what do you take from the basketball court that you apply to your studies?
It helped me to not procrastinate because, on the basketball court, I get my work done in the summer, I work hard throughout the whole year, not just at the last minute right before the season. So it's taught me to take that into the classroom and don't wait until the day before to get assignments done. Just get it done early and stay organized and take care of what I have to.
 
What advice would you give to an athlete that's looking to come here that might get into sports management?
It's a great program and the professors here are great in the business building. It's a lot of fun, I have a close connection with a lot of them, especially Mr. Muth and Mrs. Mims. They're great people who are a lot of help and I highly recommend it here.
 
The 2022-23 season is two months away, how do you feel about the team and what are you looking forward to the most?
I feel really good. We're all really excited. People worked hard in the summer, we can tell and we're looking forward to getting going. We have a lot of returners and a few newcomers that should help us, and we have high expectations for ourselves going into the year.