Gaven DeFilippo ’18: Excelling at Stetson on and off the Field

portrait outside
portrait outside
Meet the Class of 2018: Gaven DeFilippo earned a Bachelor of Business Administration.

A star athlete, Gaven DeFilippo graduated from high school with a 4.2 GPA and chose Stetson over Princeton, Yale, Cornell and other universities.

As an undergraduate at Stetson, he played quarterback for the Hatter football team and double majored in Sports Business and Sales in the School of Business Administration.

“The main reasons I chose Stetson over those other schools was that I wanted a school that was going to provide me with an outstanding education, while allowing me to play Division 1 football. Stetson was the best of both worlds for me. In addition, coming from Arizona, I wanted somewhere warm. So, being located in Central Florida was amazing for me,” he said.

His close relationships with his professors and Stetson’s small class sizes allowed him to thrive academically, including being named to the Pioneer Football League Academic Honor Roll.

“One of the great things about Stetson for any major is that the small classroom sizes allow you to communicate with your professors personally. They know me by name. I know them by name. I can go to them with issues I have,” he said. “It’s been a great experience. It’s great building the relationships with the professors where you aren’t just a number.”

DeFilippo will return to Stetson in August to earn an MBA and also will continue to play quarterback for the 2018 Football Team. (He was a redshirt junior and extended his eligibility, allowing him to play Hatter football for the next two seasons.) The soon-to-be graduate student said he is well accustomed to juggling a demanding academic load and athletics schedule.

“I’m a double major. I’m on the football team. My days are a bit hectic,” he said shortly before graduating in May with a Bachelor of Business Administration. “It’s a lot of time management. You have to prioritize what is important to you. You fill out a block of time, schedule it out and hit each important milestone. You also have to sketch out time for fun. You’re a college student in a great college town.”

John Riggs

DeFilippo hopes to pursue a career in the sales industry, either in pharmaceuticals or sports sales. He credits Stetson’s Centurion Sales Program with honing his skills and expanding his career options. The program’s Director John Riggs, D.B.A., served as his mentor and helped him through the process of landing a summer internship.

“Just having the sports business major alone, which I originally started out as, is one of the largest majors on campus for athletes. I’m passionate about it. We have a unique and diverse curriculum as far as hitting on all the elements of sports business. It prepares you for a sports business career,” he said.

Gaven DeFilippo in Hatter football uniform drops back and readies to throw during a football game.
Gaven DeFilippo, No. 10, played as starting quarterback for the Hatters in 2016, above, and was rated as one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the West while in high school in Arizona.

“With the addition of the sports sales program, and adding that other major, it has taken my options to a new dimension. It opens doors. I can stay on the sports business sales side, or take it anywhere I want,” he explained.

Graduating from Stetson also connects him with an impressive group of alumni, who can serve as a valuable resource for students and recent grads looking for jobs, he said.

“Our whole alumni network here is phenomenal,” he added. “As a sales and sports business major, I can call up one of our alumni, who is the vice president of the NHL. I’m able to call him! That’s a great connection for jobs.”