Chenowith talks about insurance before the Knight Commision

Dressed in a bespoke gray suit and trousers, a plaid shirt and a navy blue and brown striped tie, Eric Chenowith, Kansas's former basketball center, 7 feet 1 inch, officially appeared before the Knight Commission of 22 people on intercollegiate sports. Washington DC

"It's truly an honor for me as a former student-athlete, now an insurance professional working in more than 50 universities across the country. Thank you for inviting me, "said Chenowith, 40, before starting her eight-minute speech preceding a question-and-answer session.

The Knight Commission, created in 1989, "to promote reforms that support and reinforce the educational mission of university sport," turned to Chenowith, a KU graduate in 2001, the owner and founder of the company. "Leverage" insurance from Corona del Mar, California, explaining the process by which colleges are allowed to purchase permanent total disability insurance with a loss of value for their athletes.

These disability policies are designed to protect the future professional earnings of student athletes in the event of injury or illness at the college.

"My business model is simple," Chenowith told attendees at the JW Marriott hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, just off the White House. "I call only coaches and directors of compliance. I do not call families directly. I do not directly call student-athletes. I find this intrusive and I find that some schools can be caught off guard. "

The Power Five conference schools that Chenowith works with are eligible to pay for the elite athlete's insurance policies through the school's student-athlete assistance fund, which could reach $ 350,000 per year, depending on the NCAA criteria.

He explained the different coverage plans as succinctly as possible.

"Permanent total disability insurance is the cornerstone of our market. If you have an injury or illness at the end of your career, if you can no longer play basketball, football, baseball or hockey – for example if you have cancer or have a broken leg – you are covered by as a student-athlete, "said Chenowith.

"Many athletes have rejected permanent total disability insurance by saying," My career will never end with all the progress of medicine. "So Lloyds of London (a Chenowith partner) developed a product called" Loss of Value (Insurance) ".). & # 39;

"They make a projection of your position in the draft (NBA, baseball, hockey, football), set a monetary value, remove about 50% of the projected value and set a threshold. If you have an injury that is not at the end of your career, but has proven to be effective, it will compensate you for the difference between your threshold and the one where you signed, "said Chenowith.

Commission members – including former NFL member Paul Tagliabue, Basketball Hall of Fame member David Robinson, former US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, the American Airlines general manager, Derek Kerr, former general manager of the Major League Baseball Jonathan Mariner and various college presidents and chancellors – heard Chenowith mention "A new product on the market called" Critical Injury "which is a defined benefit plan in which there is a category 1 and a category 2 for injuries."

Examples in the first category would include a torn Achilles, a torn ACL, a rotator cuff injury. For category two, for example, a torn quad or hamstring, a torn pectoral muscle, or a triceps muscle.

"You get a defined benefit for a specific injury. It removes the gray area. Many schools like that. It's expensive, but you know exactly what will happen when you have some definite injury, "noted Chenowith.

He noted that it is great that colleges pay premiums for policies. It's different from the one he played at the KU from 1998 to 2001.

"When I was at school, I took out a loan to pay my insurance premiums. It's something you had to do then, "said Chenowith, who played professional basketball for eight years before embarking on insurance. "If your family could afford it, you would pay for insurance that way. My family was not in a position to pay premiums. I took out a loan and eventually paid it back. This was good for me, taught me financial responsibility, taught me how the loan works.

"Five or six years ago, the NCAA rules for total autonomy were changed. (Before that), as a producer, I had to get loans for student athletes. "

Chenowith said that even when he was playing, it was common for university players to take out disability insurance.

"When my father learned that Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz both had a disability insurance policy," said Chenowith to the board members, "Eric, you should probably talk to coach (Roy) Williams about getting also a police. "The coach said:" Eric will talk to Richard Konzem and he will take it from there. "

"While I was walking down the hall (to talk to assistant AD Konzem), I was like every student or professional athlete whose fear is' What am I going to do when I'm Will have finished playing? This seed was planted in my head. Walking down that hall saying, "Okay, if I do not earn enough money to retire after playing basketball, I could always sell insurance and work with student athletes." This seed was planted and developed later in life.

One of the board members asked Chenow how often an athlete receives a payment for these policies and is "hard to recover".

Injuries at the end of a career and those affecting the status of draft are quite rare.

"In 2018, I wrote 110 sports cases (policies). I have a potential claim at the moment, "said Chenowith to the Knight Commission. "It's less than 1% of the time. I do not like the term "hard to understand," but a lot of things have to happen to trigger and click.

"I'm proud to do the right thing, to properly underwrite the policies, to explain to the athlete what they buy, how it works, where the triggers are, so that the expectations are managed from the start. As long as we have no remorse on the part of the buyer, I did my job. They pay. I've had several paid claims for PTD (permanent total disability) and loss of value if they are done correctly. "

Chenowith will not name the customers who collected the profits from their policies.

"I do not ever want to use someone else's misfortune for my own promotion," Chenowith told The Star. "It's strictly confidential. Some other brokers will inform people. I've always been on top of that.

"Playing for coach Williams, I understand very well the letter of the law and his spirit for the NCAA guidelines. Coach Williams runs a narrow ship, "added Chenowith, a Californian from California, who currently lives with his wife Bethany and his son Cooper (2). "I am very transparent, I am an educator and order taker after that. It's a simple economic model: call coaches, compliance managers and go from there. If they decide to use my services, super. Otherwise, we can all separate.

Chenowith stated that the only concern about athlete insurance he had presented to the Knight Commission was "rogue brokers working behind the scenes and behind the scenes without the schools being aware of it". Claims are also rejected due to weak underwriting and unstable market support. My subscription is strong and my markets are strong. "

His only suggested change?

"For universities to be allowed to use their general sports budget instead of having to use the Student Athlete Assistance Fund to pay the insurance premiums," said Chenowith.

The Student Athlete Assistance Fund was used to pay athletes' home burglaries, to buy formal wear for their travels, to buy iPads and computers.

He would like to be in front of the Knights' Commission.

"It was a complete and total honor. I was very grateful to be part of a committee whose primary goal is to improve the lives of student athletes, "said Chenowith. "I consider all athletes to be comrades. If I can do a little part to protect their financial gains, then I'm all for it. "