Bloomberg: Penn Alumni 'Mafia' bring athletes to Wall Street

Bloomberg ran an interesting feature today that focused on Penn athletes and the connections student's can make with well-connected (to say the least) alumni — which can lead to top jobs after graduation.

Coach Al Bagnoli calls the alums his "Alumni Mafia"

The story focuses on senior defensive back Josh Powers, who after two financial internships over the last two summers, has already secured a job for after graduation. His starting salary: $120k. His boss: George Weiss, an overseer for the athletics program. Weiss has donated $80 million to the school to fund athletics, professorships and undergrad scholarships.

And though Weiss is obviously a big fan of the Quakers, he says it's no easy ride for a player like Powers to make the cut.

“There is a huge benefit to having the support of our alumni network,” Weiss said. “But it’s not a freebie, either. They have to pass muster."

The article also mentions 2010 grad and former captain of the women's lacrosse team Barb Seaman, who is now working for Pierpoint Securities, run by Penn Alum Mark Werner.

A lot of talk goes on about how the Ivy League is at a disadvantage because of it's ban on athletic scholarships. Yes, that definitely keeps the Athletic caliber below that of the PAC-10, Big-Ten or any other big name D-1 conference, but the Ivy League has it's own benefits — ones that Josh Powers is about to reap come graduation.

While lucrative, professional athlete's careers last 15 years at best. The careers that Ivy League student athletes are heading towards — whether Wharton-based or not — are much longer lived.

As those NCAA commercials say, just about every NCAA athlete goes pro in something other than sports. That's especially true for the Ancient Eight, but it's student athletes clearly have a leg up.

I'm still waiting to find out where I can meet the Penn sports journalist alumni mafia.