Wallace Prather III has nearly twenty years of experience in player representation. From negotiating over two-hundred million dollars in player and marketing contracts, scheduling workouts, strength and conditioning preparation, and media training, he has worked with several top draft picks, rookies, and veterans.
Prather has the passion to assist players in becoming successful on the court and in the community, making it feasible to give back to those who supported and contributed to the players’ development. With connections to various charities and foundations, he encourages his clients to become and remain active in the community.
Immediately after graduating college, Prather took a position with California-based Immortal Sports Management where he worked alongside a certified NBA agent. Shortly thereafter, he obtained his own certification and spent the next six months expanding his knowledge of the business and gaining practical experience. During this time, he was involved with everything from the scouting and recruiting process to contract negations with the athlete.
After leaving Immortal, Prather began his own full-service firm, Wallace Prather Sports Management, with the vision of personally providing top-quality services to all of his future clients. He signed Josh Smith, the 17th overall pick in 2004 and negotiated the top sneaker endorsement deal of the draft -the second highest deal of its kind. Later, Prather engineered the first deal in basketball history where a college player played his final NCAA game and first NBA game in the same week. Since then, he’s signed multiple first round draft choices and free agent players. For the 2010 NBA Draft, Prather signed projected top-5 pick Derrick Favors out of Georgia Tech. Favors, who had a stellar freshman season and won 2009-2010 ACC Rookie of the Year, is one of the early favorites for 2010-2011 NBA Rookie of the Year.
Prather realizes that representing a player encompasses more than just negotiating contracts. It is a twenty-four hour a day job that goes far beyond marketing and negotiating. It requires the agent to build a healthy relationship with the client and provide overall career management. His clients are his family and he emphasizes the necessity to maintain personal and continuous discourse with them as they make the transition into professional careers.
Prather is a graduate of Cornell University where he received a B.S. in Applied Economics and Business Management with a Business management and Marketing concentration.