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Ayaz Hafeez — Co-Founder/CEO
Ayaz is an experienced professional with a background spanning law, collegiate athletics administration, and sports regulation. Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from the University of New Orleans (2005) and a Juris Doctor from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law (2009).
He began his career in legal roles at Verizon Wireless and Flow-Tek before moving into collegiate athletics compliance in 2013, working at Texas Southern University and Eastern Michigan University. In 2016, he was appointed Director of Compliance at the University of California, Davis, where he managed NCAA compliance operations, including recruiting, financial aid, eligibility, and education of coaches, student-athletes, and staff on regulatory requirements.
From 2017 to 2022, Ayaz served as Assistant Director of Enforcement at the NCAA, leading investigations into potential rules violations. His work included high-profile cases such as the 2017–18 men’s basketball corruption investigation and the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. He also oversaw Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) investigations and engaged regularly with institutions, student-athletes, and agents.
In addition to his regulatory experience, Ayaz is a licensed FIFA agent and has worked as an NIL consultant for a student-athlete representation firm. He also serves on the advisory board of #travelball4all, a nonprofit organization that expands access to competitive baseball for underserved youth.
From Intern to Innovator
Following his internship, Hafeez served as the director of compliance at UC Davis for a year before returning to the NCAA in a contract role with the Eligibility Center. Now, as a full-time assistant director in enforcement, Hafeez handles and processes Level I and Level II cases for all three NCAA divisions. He credits his internship for providing valuable familiarity with enforcement colleagues, protocols, and department directives, noting, “My internship helped me get familiar with enforcement colleagues, protocols and department directives. I processed Level III cases as part of the secondary/Level III team and also helped other assistant directors on Level I and II casework, which included attending case hearings as an intern.”
Hafeez emphasizes the importance of relationship-building during his internship, which continues to support him in his role today. “The internship is more than just working hard and being productive,” Hafeez says. “The relationships you build within your intern class and in all departments at the NCAA will last a lifetime. I still have relationships that help me in my current position.”
Before becoming a postgraduate intern, Hafeez turned down a job offer to be the head of compliance at a Division I institution—a decision he believes was crucial to his career. “The postgraduate internship has propelled my athletics career,” he states. “I truly feel like it was one of the best decisions I have made in my career and I know that I wouldn’t be where I am in my current position without being a postgraduate intern.”
(Inside the NCAA -- 2018)
