Senior Standouts: Andrew Somogyi

If Andrew Somogyi could go back in time, he’d have played soccer in addition to basketball and baseball.

He almost joined the soccer team his senior year, but it would have come at the expense of his pre-season basketball workouts. After a conversation with his coach, he decided his workouts would help increase the team’s chances of advancing in the playoffs.

“I’m glad I made that decision,” Somogyi said. “I really enjoyed my senior year with a lot of success thanks to those off season workouts.”

A big part of that success was achieving their goal of advancing to the second round of the sectional tournament and while the team’s season ended there, Somogyi had never been past the first round during his varsity career.

There was also . Somogyi and fellow senior Jeremiah Townes ender their careers in Beachwood’s gymnasium with huge games.

“It was unbelievable,” Somogyi said. “Before the game everyone was a little more hyped up since it was the last home game in front of our friends and family. It seemed like I was in the zone the whole game.”

Somogyi enjoys the fast-paced, objective-oriented nature of basketball. It’s why he likes pitching over playing outfield: the pitcher has more of an influence on the game. It’s also probably why he was drawn to Beachwood’s stock market club.

Students throughout the city formed teams and were given a fake $100,000 to invest however they choose. Whichever team in all of Cleveland did the best received a cash prize. Somogyi’s team didn’t win, but they learned a lot about investing.

“It was our first year doing it,” Somogyi said. “In the beginning we were figuring out what to do, but by the end we came on strong with some stocks.”

He also took a marketing class where they helped produce two events:  Expo and a gala to support it. Green Dream featured over 100 vendors showcasing their green businesses. Green Life was a gala held at Progressive’s headquarters for eco-friendly businesses with a fashion show sponsored by Virginia Mardi College using only recycled materials.

Somogyi combined his interest in buisness with his passion for sports during his senior project at Neil Cornrich’s NC Sports agency. Cornrich represents many NFL players, like Dallas Clark and Mario Manningham. Somogyi scouted potential clients for the agency, focusing on college kids who went to high school in the Cleveland area.

“He showed me some books to read about negotiating,” Somogyi said. “He taught me about the other side of sports that I don’t know as well.”

Somogyi will attend Indiana University in the fall and pursue a business major. While he hasn’t figured out exactly what he wants to do yet, being a sports agent is definitely a possibility.

“It’s definitely something that I’m interested in,” Somogyi said. “It’s hard to stay away from the sports aspect of my life.”