One thing you see in Deion Sanders’s program, and not much elsewhere, is prioritizing and preparing players for life after college football. The Colorado Buffs’ head honcho reminds everyone now and then that not everybody is going to make it to the big league, and there’s no shame in that. The bigger mission is building professionals, not just prospects for drafts.

That philosophy is paying in dividends now, as one of the guys Coach Prime made rehearse a business pitch is now hitting it out of the park in his career.

Ex- Colorado Buffaloes long snapper Camden Dempsey is proving that you can be just as impactful in the classroom as you are on the football field. Known to his teammates and fans as “The Governor,” Dempsey’s recently selected as a Schwarzman Scholar for the class of 2026–27. It’s one of the most prestigious graduate fellowships in the world, with an acceptance rate similar to the Rhodes Scholarship.

“It’s a one-year fully funded master’s in Beijing at Tsinghua University that’s sponsored by Steve Schwarzman, who runs Blackstone and will be out in China for a year. Studying global affairs, politics, business, everything in between. So I know there was a ton of applicants.” Ex-Buffs athlete said.

As a Schwarzman Scholar, Dempsey is heading to Tsinghua University (MIT of China) in Beijing for a fully funded Master’s in Global Affairs, focusing on the business and political side of things. It’s one of the top 15 unis in the world. The acceptance rate is between in the park of 0.5%-1%. It wasn’t easy to get by any means. He was one of only 150 students chosen from a record-breaking pool of over 5,800 applicants from around the world. Fun fact: he’s the first ever Colorado student-athlete and only college baller to get that scholarship. The former long-snapper couldn’t contain his excitement when he first got the news:

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

“That was one of the most special moments of my life,” Camden said when asked about his first reaction?

I was actually at practice, and I had not heard anything for a day, and I was like, stressing out. Oh my gosh, I haven’t heard a word, and so we get done, I run into the locker room, all my guys knew that I was expecting a call, hopefully, and I look at my phone and I have the call and I’m like oh my gosh, this is like the best news in the world.”

Someone might ask why the nickname “Governor” for a long snapper, of all positions? Coach Prime saw Dempsey as a natural ambassador for the program. He was the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and advocated alongside Deion Sanders regarding NCAA roster limits. The man’s super articulate, professional, and great at bringing different groups of players together in the locker room.

He basically acts like the team’s unofficial press secretary, representing the Buffs with so much class and intelligence that Sanders felt a political title like “The Governor” was the only name he could think of and come up with.

What’s more impressive is that Dempsey’s uniquely prepared for this move because his connection to China actually started long before he became a Buff. He grew up visiting the country with his family and even sat on a committee in high school to help hire a Mandarin teacher. He was conducting the interviews in Mandarin himself.

End of the day, Dempsey is the epitome of a student athlete. He already finished his finance and marketing degree (3.9 GPA) with top honors and is currently finishing up a Master’s in Real Estate. While his time snapping for the Buffaloes might be winding down, “The Governor” is just getting started on his path to making a real-world impact far beyond his 50-yard line.

What’s more fascinating his Deion Sanders kinda called it when he made him rehearse his business pitch.

Deion Sanders schools the VC entrepreneur in Camden

In April 2025, Coach Prime turned a standard Colorado Buffaloes team meeting into a venture capital fund rehearsal. He invited Dempsey to stand in front of the entire squad and practice a business pitch for his startup, VerEstate. Dempsey was prepping for a real-world meeting to land a $200,000 investment for his digital title insurance company. Sanders wasn’t about to let him go in without some “Prime Time” polish.

Sanders played the role of a tough but encouraging mentor, stopping the pitch early on to give Dempsey some “boss-level” public speaking tips. He told the junior to stop standing in one spot and instead “work the room” to keep the audience engaged. His specific advice was for Dempsey to pick out three people in the room, make direct eye contact with them. Total Tony Robbins level.

The lesson you need to learn outright is to be more than just a footballer. Sanders’ philosophy of turning his players into well-rounded professionals. “We don’t just want you to be professional football players, we want you to be professionals,” Sanders told the team.

Dempsey clearly took the coaching to heart. Not only did he earn a standing ovation from his teammates that day, but he went on to win $144,000 in the CU New Venture Challenge later that month. It’s safe to say that the Governor is officially ready for the global stage.