Juggling Finals and the Final Four

While most law students are busy studying for contracts and torts, Shawn Siegel also juggles running the nation's most popular independent college basketball site.

(PRWEB) March 25, 2005 -- The bottom floor of the Washington University law library is packed with busy students. But unlike most law students, Shawn Siegel isnt working on Contracts or Torts, hes working on UNC, Kansas, brackets, and the RPI.

Siegel runs Collegehoopsnet.com (CHN), the largest independent college basketball site on the web. CHN is visited by over 12,000 die hard fans a day, who stop in daily to check out the latest news, commentary, and rankings from the world of college basketball.

Juggling law school and a successful web business isnt easy, but there are more than enough benefits to make it worthwhile. CHN generates revenue through advertising agreements with ticket brokers, apparel companies, and other online businesses. Siegel, and the over 20 contributing writers, have developed a strong enough reputation that they are credentialed by a wide variety of NCAA teams and conferences. This past week, you could find Siegel on the floor of the Missouri Valley Conference finals held in St. Louis, while other CHN writers are scattered across tournament venues around the country.

How has CHN grown so quickly in the two years since Siegel founded the website while he was a senior at Washington University? By staying unique and avoiding the Duke-centric focus of the major media players like ESPN and CBS. Siegel jokes, Even if Dick Vitale's only heard of JJ Redick, theres so much great basketball being played outside of the ACC." CHN has found its niche by focusing on the so-called Mid-Major conferences that dont get pub in the national media, interviewing their coaches and players and covering their events live.

By being different than the big boys, CHN is now considered to be on the big boys. If you go on the popular Google search engine and search for college basketball", CHN is listed 3rd, trailing only ESPN and Sports Illustrated.

Not bad when you consider Siegel only started messing around with websites as a chance to spout thoughts about his beloved New Jersey Nets. Soon the Nets became college basketball, his own thoughts became that of over 20 journalists, and a hobby became a business. Honestly, I never thought it would get this big," he notes, but once it started growing, I had to capitalize and turn into a serious business." Siegel came to law school hoping to become a successful sports agent, but the way things are going, he might one day be hiring a law department of his own.

For more information, please visit http://www.collegehoopsnet.com

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