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Todd Reesing excels in academics and athletics

Sunday, May 10, 2009

BY LAURA WOLFE

Starting quarterback Todd Reesing has an impressive record at the University of Kansas. He led the 2007 football team to a 12-1 record and an Orange Bowl victory, and the 2008 team to its second BCS bowl victory in two years. He currently holds the university records for most career and season touchdown passes and most career and season completions, among many others.

"I hate talking about myself," Reesing said. "It's kind of embarrassing."

Reesing, who is responsible for 77 touchdowns in his career at Kansas, will have to do a lot more talking about himself if he plays in the NFL.

"I'm going to try to play football and see how that goes. If that doesn't work then I'll go to grad school and get my MBA," Reesing said.

Football fans may be surprised to learn that Reesing is double majoring in finance and economics. After taking Finance 310, a friend recommended he take an independent study with School of Business lecturer Lisa Bergeron. He is also one of Bergeron's teaching assistants for Finance 310.

"I would suspect he is the poster child for an NCAA student/athlete," said Associate Head Coach Ed Warinner, Reesing's quarterback coach. "He has over 35 school records; along with the high GPA he carries in his school work."

"You just have to manage your time," Reesing said. "You can't really procrastinate as much because, as an athlete, you need your sleep, too."

Bergeron had a different take on Reesing's time management skills. "He's just amazing," she teased.

Reesing will graduate in December 2009. "I've always enjoyed numbers more than words," he said of his major. "No matter what you do in business, you'll need to know how to manage your money, how to manage your investments."

Reesing is studying the company Gap with several other students enrolled in an independent study with Bergeron. "We picked a company that would be easy to get data on," Reesing said. He and the other students examine aspects of the company such as equity-to-debt ratio, sales and income, and then make assumptions based on their research.

"Right now they are working on a company evaluation, like they're doing an acquisition project," Bergeron explained. "In the lower level classes it's a lot of projects that are nicely tied up at the end, but here we try to give more realistic examples."

Reesing also did an independent study with Bergeron last fall. "Last semester's project dealt more with forecasting. We had a magazine as a product, and we put together balance sheets, determined profits, and forecasted for five years," Reesing said.

"In the fall it was a new project with new financials. This semester the project is working with existing financials," Bergeron said.

Reesing's favorite magazine is The Economist, and he has been known to read it in class when he gets bored. "I don't really want to mention any names," he said with a smile. "It's just a good overview of world politics and economy."

Reesing constantly strives to improve in his studies and athletics. "He works out 4 days a week in the winter at 6 a.m. running, and then comes back and lifts weights and throws the football in the afternoons," Warinner said. "He practices very hard, competes in every drill we do, leads our team on offense and does it with high energy and a smile."

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