As March Madness rolls around and millions across the country fill out their brackets, everyone begins to learn about surprise stars throughout the NCAA Tournament. We see new Cinderella stories year after year, but one thing that has been frequently occurring throughout sports programming is the beloved Enterprise Rent-A-Car commercial that highlights past collegiate athletes who are now working for Enterprise to help promote their company. The one face that many current Chaminade students and faculty, as well as alumnus now know (if they did not already), is John Wyatt.
 
John only has a quick screen showing during the 30-second commercial, but his words, “To Silverswords” have brought much more than just a familiar face.
 
About John
 
John played basketball at Chaminade from 1987 to 1989 under well-known former head coach, Merv Lopes. He was known for his academics just as much as he was known for his basketball skills by maintaining a minimum 3.5 GPA throughout his entire college career, and also being named the Alumni Association Outstanding Senior. The Los Angeles native says on his future thoughts while in college, “When I was at Chaminade, I knew that I wanted to be a professional after basketball. Initially, my thought was to go to Graduate School and Law School.”


Do we wonder if Mr. Wyatt ever envisioned seeing his face all over the country to promote his company and his former school?
 
Why Chaminade?
 
When John was asked about what the deciding factor was for him to come to Chaminade he had a very simple response, “Merv Lopes,” he added. “When I came to Chaminade it was two years after the big Virginia upset. The school’s education alongside Merv Lopes’ charisma - Merv was such a smooth young man.”
 
The Chaminade Experience
 
John was intrigued by the fact that he would get to travel to new places across the country and create new potential life-long relationships. He stated that this was one major factor that also drew him to campus.
 
During his playing days, his team even got to scrimmage the Chinese and Japanese National teams.
 
“Chaminade has taught me the value of discipline, being a good team player, how to set goals, how to communicate, and really HOW TO WIN!”
 
John learned through athletics first, that the business world is very similar to the basketball environment. One huge component that he accredits being a collegiate student-athlete to being a successful businessman is “knowing when to lead and knowing when to follow”.
 
“The Enterprise Commercial”
 
When the Enterprise commercial first aired, Wyatt’s position at Enterprise was the Regional Vice President. Since then, he has now been promoted to Vice President General Manager of Enterprise Rental Car and Enterprise Holdings. Alongside that, he is the General Manager of the New Mexico group which oversees the state of New Mexico as well as El Paso, Texas.
 
“It has exceeded my personal expectations”, when asked about how the Enterprise commercial has helped both his company as well as him alma mater, Chaminade. “I really didn’t know what role I would play, I was a little nervous.”

This unique opportunity was one that had substantial benefits for John that he did not yet know of. “I was flattered to represent myself, my company, and Chaminade University," he said. "Since the commercial aired, I have received phone calls from high school friends, former Chaminade teammates, and also relatives all over the country”.
 
Home is where the Heart is
 
Being a Chaminade alumnus, John believes it is “absolutely essential” to get our athletic alumnus to give back to our sports programs.
 
“I was very fortunate and blessed to use basketball as a vehicle to fund my education," he said. "Chaminade provided that for me and it is an obligation to do what you can for the university and everyone should do what they are able to do to (and) to help.”
 
It is truly amazing to be able to have the opportunity to promote and support your company and your university all in one. John was given this opportunity and has had nothing but positive outcomes from it.
 
John Wyatt is a living example of what it takes to be a student-athlete who puts in a relentless amount of work, even after his playing days are over. John is forever grateful to his university here at Chaminade University of Honolulu.
 
To end our conversation, he finalized by saying “You have to compete hard every day, even though you will not always win. But you will learn from every experience.”