Beyond the Knights: Shelly Wilkes

Maybe, just maybe, former UCF volleyball player Shelly (Driggers) Wilkes has seen her career fall into place just as she might have imagined.  

A 2002 UCF graduate, Wilkes received her bachelor's degree in general business. She was a dean's list student and a summa cum laude graduate. She later graduated from the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at UCF in 2004 and earned master's degrees in both business administration and sport business management. While obtaining her master's degrees she spent the summer of 2003 as an intern with the National Basketball Association in its global merchandising group.

"My senior year of college I took a sports marketing class and that's when I was introduced to Dr. Richard Lapchick and learned UCF was starting a sports management MBA program," Wilkes says. "That really clicked for me. I loved sports and that was an opportunity to keep going to school and create a career path.

"I got hired as a graduate assistant in the (UCF) compliance department. I also worked with the UCF sports marketing department and was able to work in the corporate partnership area at (UCF) football games—and then I also worked game nights for the Orlando Magic. I tried to find as many opportunities as I could to learn what I enjoyed. That connection with the Magic led to a full-time position and jump-started my career."

Originally from Fort Myers, Florida, Wilkes also played volleyball for the Knights from 1998-2001—earning Atlantic Sun Conference all-tournament honors as a senior in 2001 and finishing with the UCF career mark for blocks per set (1.44).

Her Knight teams in her sophomore and junior seasons ended up 19-12 each—then in her senior year in 2001 UCF went 20-7 (including an 11-match win streak), won the Atlantic Sun title and qualified for the NCAA Championship. The Knights in her final three seasons combined for a 26-2 record in Atlantic Sun competition.

"It was an amazing experience," she says, "from getting to travel throughout the country to play volleyball to the strong bonds I created with my teammates.

"I went to a UCF volleyball camp when I was a sophomore in high school. At that time I honestly wasn't sure if I was a (potential) Division I athlete. Then my high school coach was friends with Miriam Ochoa (the 1998 UCF head coach) who came down on a recruiting trip and that's how I ended up there. I eventually became a starter, I had a great college career and I loved it. It was awesome."

Wilkes immediately translated her athletic experiences and sports management degree into the start of a career.

She first spent 13 seasons with the Magic, starting as a game-night staff member in the marketing department during the 2003-04 season before being hired full-time in August 2004 as group sales coordinator. She held multiple positions within the sales and marketing areas of the company focused on fan engagement and live entertainment.

Wilkes next became team president of the Lakeland Magic, the NBA G League affiliate of the Magic, for more than three years (December 2016-July 2020). She was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day business operations of the team and was the first female team president in G League history.

Wilkes spearheaded naming rights deals, arena renovations, corporate partner signings and innovation in ticket sales. Specifically, she was instrumental in leading the charge to bring professional basketball to the Lakeland community for the first time in 2017-18. Wilkes led several of the G League team's most significant accomplishments, including the naming rights deal with the City of Lakeland to rebrand the former Lakeland Center to the RP Funding Center. She also oversaw the opening of a new practice facility in 2020, partnering with the city of Winter Haven and Polk County.

"There was definitely the allure of starting something from scratch--building the brand locally, gaining fandom and building a team," says Wilkes. "It felt very entrepreneurial without the risk—because the Magic provided a ton of support. It was an amazing experience and I'm so thankful I was chosen to lead that charge.

"My role in Lakeland reminded me of something I had said while I was in grad school, that it would be so cool to be the president of an NBA team. The G League experience brought up those desires and goals again.

"Becoming an NBA team president is still kind of an ultimate dream. It comes with a lot of scrutiny and focus on what you're doing as a business and a brand and how your basketball team is performing on the court. It's interesting to me--I enjoy working with a team of people and seeing what we can do together. That may be where I end up some day."

She rejoined the Magic in July 2020 as senior vice president of marketing and social responsibility. In her role, she oversees overall brand strategy, fan and community engagement--and the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation.

In February 2020, Wilkes was selected to the SportsBusiness Journal's Forty Under 40, a recognition that spotlights the nation's top young sports executives under the age of 40. In 2019 she received the Celebrating Women in Sport Rising Star Award from the Greater Orlando Sports Commission and also was named a UCF College of Business Honorable Knight.

Her volunteer experience has included service as a board member for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando (HCCMO), the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation and the Children's Home Society of Florida (Central Florida Division).

Wilkes lives in Orlando with her husband Dallas and daughters Quinn and Addison.

"I often speak to college students, and the key takeaway I try to convey is that it's all about experience," Wilkes says. "I don't think you really know what you want to do until you try multiple things and potentially fail at some of them or find out what you do and don't enjoy.

"I think being a college athlete developed so many strengths that I have brought into my everyday life—resiliency, the ability to work in a team, dedication to working hard. It's doing the things you don't necessarily feel like doing but that have to be done.

"Working as a team is something I do every day. There are so many benefits to playing a team sport--and playing at that level I know has specifically led to the success I have today in my career.

"I would not change anything."

This is a recurring series of feature pieces on former UCF student-athletes.