Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Region: Europe

Karin Korb

Wheelchair Tennis

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Bulgaria
  • 2015  –  Hungary
  • 2015  –  Romania
  • 2018  –  Venezuela

Karin Korb didn’t pick up a tennis racquet until she was 27 years old. Yet, a year later, she was among the top four women wheelchair tennis players in the world and playing in the World Team Cup, the Fed Cup of wheelchair tennis.

She serves on multiple boards including the Alabama FBI Citizens Academy, a Friend of Mind, Baseline Tennis, America Walks, the Alabama Disability Advocacy Program, the Is-Able Organization’s Advisory Board and the International Tennis Federation’s Player Council. She was awarded the 2018 Athletes in Excellence award by the Foundation for Global Sports Development which recognizes elite-level athletes who have dedicated themselves to bettering their local and global communities through mentorship, service, and volunteerism. Her career in both advocacy and policy has spanned over three decades, and she is fiercely committed to creating a more equitable future for all.

Paul Walker

Wheelchair Tennis

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Hungary
  • 2015  –  Romania

Paul Walker was injured in a parachuting accident in 1994 while serving as a commissioned officer in the United States Army. He is a 1986 graduate from Florida Southern College, having earned a B.A. in history and political science. He received his commission in 1988 and retired as a Captain in 1995. He is a proud veteran of Operation Desert Storm, and finds it humorous that the last unit he served in was the 2nd Armored Division (nicknamed Hell on Wheels). His experience leading soldiers has engendered within him a great sense of duty, responsibility and professionalism that is apparent in how he approaches almost every task.

Paul began his tennis coaching career in 2002 at George Jenkins High School in Lakeland, Fla., where he coached for 13 years. During his early coaching career, Paul began coaching at numerous wheelchair tennis camps around the country. In 2005, Dan James, then national manager of Wheelchair Tennis invited Paul to coach the U.S. women at the World Team Cup in the Netherlands. He has been a dedicated member of the national staff since then. Around 2008-09, Paul began coaching USTA league players in Polk County. He still coaches a dedicated group of women who he affectionately calls the PWTA. This fall he will begin his third year as an assistant coach to Trish Riddell with the Florida Southern women’s team.

Paul has always been an athlete. During his college days, he played baseball for Florida Southern. After his accident and prior to his subsequent career as a tennis coach, he worked his way through the ranks of the USTA wheelchair tennis divisions and ultimately became a top men’s open player in the U.S. Although he is one of the main characters in wheelchair tennis worldwide, he spends the majority of his coaching time with the able-bodied tennis community.

Tisha Hoch

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2020  –  Turkey

-4 time National Champion at The University of North Carolina
-4 time All American
– Herman Trophy winner in 1994
– 1995 World Cup 3rd place
-1996 Olympic Gold Medalist
-1999 World Cup Champion
-2001 WUSA Champion with San Jose CyberRays
-2010 Founder of TeamFirst Soccer Academy
-2020 Investor of NWSL team
“Angel City Football Club”in Los Angeles
-Mother of Cooper (16) and Sadie (13)
Tisha Venturini-Hoch is a former American soccer player. She won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and won the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Before beginning her professional career, Hoch attended the University of North Carolina and played for the women’s soccer team. As a member of the soccer team, she was NCAA Champion in ’91, ’92, ’93, and ’94. In 1995, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation’s top soccer player. She played professionally in the W-League for San Jose CyberRays, Delaware Genies, and Bay Area CyberRays.

She is the only athlete in any sport to ever hold five titles as: Collegiate Champion at UNC, four-time NCAA National Champion at UNC, World Cup Champion in 1999, Olympic Gold Medalist in 1996, and Professional Champion at Bay Area CyberRays in 2001.

Zarko Cabarkapa

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2016  –  Georgia

Zarko Cabarkapa was born May 21, 1981 in Zrenjanin, Serbia, Yugoslavia to parents are Zivan and Milka. He has one brother Milos who is 26 years old. Zarko grew up in Belgrade and began playing basketball at only 10 years old. Before going to the United States, Cabarkapa played for KK Beopetrol Belgrade and KK Budućnost Podgorica in Yugoslavia. When playing there he averaged 8.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Zarko was a member of the gold-medal winning Yugoslavian team at the 2002 World Championship in Indianapolis.

Selected by Phoenix with the 17th overall pick in 2003 NBA Draft, ending the Suns’ string of six-consecutive early entry picks he was one of a record 21 international players taken in the draft, along with Suns rookie guard Leandro Barbosa (Brazil). Zarko was later traded by Phoenix to the Golden State Warriors.

Vladimir Stepania

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2009  –  Georgia

Born in 1976 in Georgia, Vladimir Stephania made his NBA debut with the Seattle SuperSonics after being drafted in the first round in 1998. He stayed with the SuperSonics for two seasons before playing for the New Jersey Nets (2000-2001), the Miami Heat (2001-2003), and the Portland Trail Blazers (2003-2004). During his 6-season NBA career as a Center, Stephania played 270 games, averaging 4.1 points per game.

Tracy Murray

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2009  –  Mozambique
  • 2012  –  Greece

Tracy Murray, one of the most decorated basketball players in UCLA history, began as color analyst for the Bruins in 2008. He has served in that capacity for every UCLA basketball season except 2015-16, where he left to become a shooting coach with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Murray played at UCLA from 1990-92 before enjoying a 12-year NBA career. He currently ranks 10th on the program’s all-time scoring list, having recorded 1,792 points in 98 career games. He averaged 18.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while helping UCLA to three-straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including a Sweet 16 trip in 1990 and an Elite Eight trip in 1992.

Murray, who starred at nearby Glendora High School, was selected in the first round of the 1992 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs following his junior season with the Bruins. Through 12 NBA seasons, he played for the Portland Trailblazers, Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers. He concluded his NBA career with averages of 9.0 points per game and 2.5 rebounds per game in 659 total contests.

Sam Perkins

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2005  –  Algeria
  • 2008  –  Kyrgyzstan
  • 2008  –  Kazakhstan
  • 2009  –  Qatar
  • 2010  –  Indonesia
  • 2011  –  South Sudan
  • 2012  –  United Kingdom
  • 2022  –  Albania

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Perkins attended Samuel J. Tilden High School. He later attended and graduated from Shaker High School in Latham, New York. He was named large-school player of the year (high school) by the New York State Sportswriters Association in 1980 and was also named to the 35 Greatest Boys McDonald’s All Americans team.

Perkins attended college at the University of North Carolina and played basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels from 1980 to 1984. He was named ACC Rookie of the Year in 1981 and starred alongside future NBA Hall of Famers James Worthy and Michael Jordan on the Tar Heels’ 1982 NCAA championship team. A three-time All-American, Perkins was the 1984 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. Perkins finished his collegiate basketball career as the Tar Heels’ all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots and as the second-highest scorer in team history. He graduated from UNC in 1984.

Perkins was a co-captain of the gold-medal-winning 1984 U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team.

Chosen by the Dallas Mavericks as the fourth overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft, Perkins went on to play as a power forward and center in the NBA from 1984 to 2001. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1985. Perkins played for the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Indiana Pacers, respectively. He scored a career-high 45 points on April 12, 1990. Perkins tied an NBA record on January 15, 1997 by making eight three-pointers without a miss. He appeared in three NBA Finals: The 1991 NBA Finals (with the Lakers), the 1996 NBA Finals (with the SuperSonics), and the 2000 NBA Finals (with the Pacers). In Game One of the 1991 NBA Finals, Perkins made a game-winning three-point shot to defeat the Chicago Bulls. He was known by the nicknames “Sleepy Sam”, “Big Smooth”, and “The Big Easy”.

Since his retirement in 2001, Perkins has been actively involved in a variety of charitable endeavors, including Special Olympics, Nothing But Nets in conjunction with the United Nations, Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers, Carolina for Kibera, NBA Cares, Basketball Without Borders and Habitat for Humanity.

In 2002, Perkins was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men’s basketball team as one of the fifty greatest players in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

In 2008, Perkins was named vice president of player relations for the Indiana Pacers. That September, he was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.

In October 2011, Perkins traveled to South Sudan as a SportsUnited Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, where he worked with Hall of Fame NBA center Dikembe Mutombo to lead a series of basketball clinics and team building exercises with youths, the South Sudanese Wheelchair Basketball Team, and 36 coaches.

Perkins was named to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Peja Stojakavic

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  Greece

Peja Stojaković was born in Serbia on June 9, 1977.
After playing for KK Crvena zvezda and PAOK BC basketball club, while playing Greece Stojaković was drafted fourteenth overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 1996 NBA Draft. He continued to play there until the Kings signed him prior to the 1998–99 NBA lockout season. After two seasons on the bench with Sacramento, he had a breakthrough season in 2000–01, averaging 20.4 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting .400 from three-point range in his first season as a starter. He finished second in voting for the 2001 Most Improved Player Award. In 2001–02, he played in the NBA All-Star Game for the first time. His scoring average went up to 21.2 ppg, and he reached career highs in shooting percentage (.484) and three-point percentage (.416). His scoring average dropped slightly to 19.2 ppg in 2002–03, but he played again in the All-Star Game. In both seasons, he won the three-point shooting contest conducted during All-Star Weekend. In 2003–04, Stojaković was again selected as an All-Star, and finished second in the league in scoring with a career-high 24.2 ppg. He finished fourth in MVP voting and was voted on to the All-NBA 2nd Team. He also led the NBA in free-throw percentage (.933) and three-pointers made for the season (240). In 2004–05, he missed 16 games to injury, and was somewhat hampered in several games, but still averaged 20.1 ppg.

In 2006, Peja was traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for forward Ron Artest, ending his eight-year tenure with the Kings. However, he missed four games of their first round playoff series with the New Jersey Nets, all losses. During the 2006 offseason, he re-signed with the Pacers, only to be traded to the then-New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. On November 14, 2006, Stojaković scored a career-high 42 points against the Charlotte Bobcats, and became the first player in NBA history to open the game with 20 straight points for his team. He was soon sidelined for several months by injuries, including back surgery, as a result missing most of the 2006–07 season. On November 20, 2010, Peja was traded to the Toronto Raptors. After appearing in only two games, Stojakovic was released by the Raptors. He had missed 26 games due to a left knee injury. Two days later he signed a deal with the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks won the NBA Championship that year, with Peja averaging 7.1 points per game during the Mavericks’ playoff run. He scored more than 20 points in two different playoff games for the Mavericks.

While playing for his home country, Peja led the Yugoslavian national team to gold medals in the 2001 EuroBasket and 2002 FIBA World Championship. Often considered to be one of the most successful Serbian basketball players, Peja was named the Euroscar European Basketball Player of the Year by the Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport and the Mister Europa European Player of the Year twice by the Italian sports magazine Superbasket.

On December 19, 2011, Peja announced his retirement from basketball, ending a great career for one of the league’s greatest international players.

Marshall Cho

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Moldova

Cho began his career as an educator through the Teach For America program and taught in the South Bronx and Harlem for six years. He served as the boy’s basketball coach from 2004-06 at Future Leaders Institute, leading them to a New York City Charter School Championship.

From 2006-09, while living in Mozambique, Cho spent three years as a volunteer coach and instructor with the Mozambican National Basketball Federation. Cho worked to assist the under-20 and under-16 national team and for Desportivo do Maputo, one of the top senior men’s club teams in Mozambique. He also trained under-16 basketball coaches using the NBA/Nike Africa Coaches Guide for six consecutive weekends leading up to the under-16 national championship.

In August of 2008 Cho was the varsity boy’s basketball coach at the American International School of Mozambique, where he started and developed that program.

During his time in Africa, Cho served as a coach for the NBA-sponsored Basketball Without Borders Africa. He also led a variety of volunteer efforts, including rehabilitating basketball courts by partnering with Hoops 4 Hope and the U.S. Embassy and conducting basketball clinics with local basketball clubs.

Casey Shaw

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2019  –  Italy

Casey Shaw joined the Vanderbilt basketball staff in April of 2016 as an assistant coach after a successful playing career as a professional athlete in the NBA/FIBA and as a student-athlete at the University of Toledo.

“Coach Shaw is a former NBA draft pick who has a wealth of experience and knowledge from his playing career and through the relationships he has made in the NBA,” said Drew. “Being 6’10, he will be outstanding in working with our post players and developing them.”

Shaw’s wealth of basketball experience began in 1998 when he was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 37th overall pick after a stellar four-year career at Toledo, where he ranks sixth all-time with 1,562 points and fifth with 871 rebounds. He also ranks second in Toledo history with 107 blocked shots and sixth in field goal percentage (.546). He was named second team All-MAC in 1996-97 and 1997-98, and made the MAC All-Freshman team in 1994-95. He also was an outstanding student, earning third-team Academic All-America honors as a senior in 1997-98, and making the Academic All-MAC team in his junior and senior seasons.

After a stint in the NBA, Shaw began what became an 11-year international professional career in 2000 with stops in the Italian and Spanish leagues along the way.

“Having the opportunity to play professional basketball for 13 seasons was a dream come true and I am thankful that I can now use all those years of experience to be a better coach for players who hope to realize that same dream after their Vanderbilt playing days are over,” said Shaw.

Prior to his arrival in Nashville, Shaw worked at Balasa Dinverno Foltz, LLC, in Chicago, where he served as the Director of the Professional Athlete Service Team, providing business, career, and investment guidance to professional athletes. He is also a member of the National Board of Directors for the NBA Retired Players Association, which assists NBA players in their transition from playing to life after the game.

On the court, Shaw was the Director and Head Coach of the Athletes in Action Basketball Camp from 2003-2010, served as a Global All-Star Challenge Head Coach in 2012, and coached the Midwest Elite AAU team in Merrillville, Ind., in 2013 and the 180 Elite AAU team out of Chicago from 2015-16. In addition, he served as a National Basketball Developmental League Tryouts Coach and was a member of the NBA Assistant Coaches Program in 2014.

Shaw graduated with an undergraduate degree in Physical Education, from the University of Toledo, in 1997, and a Master’s degree in Biblical Studies from the Moody Graduate School in Chicago, Ill., in 2011. He also graduated from the Northwestern University School of Continuing and Professional Education to become a Certified Financial Planner in 2012.