Former BYU star Travis Hansen is back at the school, helping navigate NIL, revenue share

College sports have become a legal quagmire, and BYU just hired an expert to untangle and pilot its athletic department through the sticky morass of NIL and revenue sharing.

BYU athletic director Brian Santiago announced Monday the appointment of former Cougar star and current businessman Travis Hansen of Mapleton as a senior associate athletic director, where he’ll oversee revenue share and NIL operations for the entire athletic department.

In Hansen, Santiago brings in a seasoned expert in finances, a person well-versed in not only contract negotiations, but also experience in working with sports agents. It’s the agents who are the recruiting gatekeepers in today’s college sports.

While Santiago will shuffle athletic personnel around and promote key employees — several of which were also announced Monday — Hansen is his first external hire since he was named BYU’s athletic director.

In a sense, Santiago hired himself, what he was to former AD Tom Holmoe — a doer, a task assault man, a finisher and deal closer.

Hansen and Santiago first met after BYU basketball coach Steve Cleveland hired Santiago as director of basketball operations and became an athletic administrator under Holmoe early in 2005.

Both Santiago and Hansen were star high school athletes in Utah County, Santiago at Provo High and Hansen at Mountain View. Both played for Utah Valley University before moving on to Division I stardom, Santiago at Fresno State and Hansen at BYU.

It is no wonder they have bonded like brothers the past 15 years.

Like Santiago, Hansen is extremely competitive, energetic and extroverted. He is the chairman of the board, founder and managing partner of Tesani, a hedge fund with $250 million in assets encompassing 11 companies with 1,200 employees. Tesani recently sold a company for $50 million. In the past months, Hansen has been considered for three NBA head office jobs because of his connections and negotiation talent.

Hansen can afford to take the job in BYU’s athletic department because he’ll still keep a hand in Tesani, but he vows he will be all-in with the Cougars and specifically asked Santiago to load him up, throw him the “nasties,” as he labeled complicated challenges.

For more than two decades, Hansen has been a close friend, confidant and advisor to Santiago in his spare time, and has established a working relationship with BYU president Shane Reese. Hansen is well-connected to BYU’s major donors and knows many of them. A gifted, creative entrepreneur and negotiator, Hansen turned down an offer from the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks last week when he and his wife LaRee zeroed in on the BYU opportunity.

“One of the main reasons we are attracted to this job is because of Santiago and Reese,” Hansen said.

Hansen will be administrator over BYU’s two major cash cows, football and basketball, and will oversee all NIL contracts and revenue sharing for all 21 sports. He will be the athletic department’s chief negotiator with prospective agents and work directly with the general managers for football and basketball, overseeing the building of their rosters.

As proposals come in, Hansen will review them and make recommendations to the athletic department’s chief financial officer and Santiago. He will present a budget to those two, including individual and team salary figures.

“You’ve got to be able to say no and you’ve got to be able to say yes, and not be manipulated or make promises you can’t keep,” Hansen said.

Hansen’s job is to bring that power to him instead of the coaches. He will also need to be cagey with agents who sometimes negotiate for players just to get a boost with another school’s offer.

In other words, Hansen will work in the crosshairs of where the craziness of college sports resides today, taking immense pressure off Santiago and other administrators.

Hansen most recently got involved in befriending and counseling freshman Egor Demin, the freshman drafted No. 8 by the Brooklyn Nets.

“Egor’s experience at BYU will change his life forever and I think this will be the same for AJ Dybantsa,” said Hansen. “This is one of the major reasons I want to be involved at BYU — because I know what it can do for people. The experience can change lives and impact their futures in ways they cannot find anywhere else.”

Hansen is currently serving in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stake presidency with students at Utah Valley University’s institutes of religion and housing. He is a former bishop and he believes his experience training bishops and working with youth in his ecclesiastical experience prepares him for this job.

“It’s all about relationships and getting the most out of our lives,” he said.

In his interview process with school and church leaders, including commissioner of education Clark Gilbert and an unnamed apostle for the church, the 47-year-old Hansen said it was emphasized how important it is for university administrators, coaches and athletes to be aligned with the school’s unique mission and standards

“Those are ideals I love,” he said.

Hansen has talked almost daily with BYU head basketball coach Kevin Young recently and went to school with head football coach Kalani Sitake. He will be their supervisor now.

In BYU’s recent recruiting success with Young and Sitake, committing and signing some of the top players in the country, Hansen believes the successes will not fade as a Big 12 competitor and entity on the national stage.

“We signed the projected No. 1 player in the draft, just had the No. 8 draft pick on the team and I foresee BYU continuing to get first-round-type talent in years to come. The system is in place. We have the coaches, the interest and resources to keep momentum going.”

Hansen said he and his wife LaRee are not making this move for financial reasons.

“My family and wife love it and I wouldn’t be going back to BYU if not for Brian and President Reese. I have so much respect for those I’ll work with,” he said.

“My wife has been so supportive of me and she’s all-in on this. She had my back when I went to the NBA and she was there for me when I played in Russia and Spain. I couldn’t ask for more in a wife. She is a lover and hugger. She is adorable and a great person.”

Hansen said his wife and kids have loved getting involved in BYU events as spectators because it provides an outlet and balancing impact on their lives.

Now it will be part of his work to take his fandom to another level.

First things first, however.

Now that Santiago has moved into Holmoe’s office, Hansen will be moving into Santiago’s old office and he’s inherited Santiago’s parking spot.