Cagwin's drive to succeed goes from North Mason courts to the national triathlon stage

Former North Mason basketball star Gabe Cagwin was known for his energy, all the way back to when he was a kid. So it may be no surprise that the drive continued through college sports, leading him to higher education circles and a career of making big money for major institutions.

Now he sits as president of the USA Triathlon Foundation and chief advancement officer at USA Triathlon, and continues to be fueled for the next challenge.

“It was hard because as a kid like at three years I told my wife at the time there is something special about this kid,” says father Steve Cagwin. “He was so active and coordinated and able to do things most kids his age couldn’t do. It just kept going from there. It was pretty crazy.

“Trying to keep him busy was the hard part. He never really slowed down. He played every sport except football. I wouldn’t let him play football. After his first year of T-ball he played one year of pee-wees and then moved right up to the majors in Little League, playing with 10- and 11-year-olds. Then I remember they came out to pick the all-star team and (Gabe) said, “I got to make the all-star team. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Then there were his disrupted antics in his elementary school classroom. Gabe’s parents were advised to get medicine to help him calm down and they wouldn’t do it. So the school principal, Lea Harmon, found the solution.

“She was amazing,” says Gabe Cagwin. “Yeah, I was crazy as a kid and instead of just disciplining me she would challenge me in other ways and wouldn’t hold me back from being able to do things.”

There were also discussions to put him in a private school where he would be challenged, but it was too expensive. So the Cagwins continued to put their overactive son in as many activities as possible, and he performed like the little giant he was whether it was soccer, baseball or basketball.

“He was a phenomenal soccer player,” says Steve Cagwin. “Just like in basketball where he would get the rebound, dribble up the court and score, he did the same in soccer. It was pretty incredible.”

In 1996 Cagwin scored over 40 points in back-to-back basketball games for North Mason, with 41 against Shelton on Dec. 6 and 43 the next night against Eatonville.

A centerfielder-shortstop-pitcher in baseball, Cagwin when he was 15 played on a South Kitsap all-star team that played in a national tournament in Chicago. He played centerfield for that team and Steve Cagwin says that college coaches watching him play said he was the best outfielder they had seen in years.

In high school, Gabe would have friends stay overnight at their house. Because Steve Cagwin, an assistant coach at the time, had keys to the North Mason High School gym, there were plenty of times when the boys would be shooting baskets at midnight.

All that practice, all that intelligence, confidence determination, passion and commitment led Cagwin to play college basketball, first at UC-Irvine for one year, one year at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, and two years at the University of Buffalo.

Plagued by injuries, he often started or was sixth man when healthy, but his playing time was inconsistent. However, the classroom at Buffalo started Cagwin on the road to success — he graduated magna cum laude with his BA degree in 2002, then collected a master's in higher education in 2004 and a Ph. D. in higher education administration in 2006, all from UB.

Cagwin, 42, arrived at his newest position after being hired by Rocky Harris, his former boss at Arizona State who is now the CEO of USA Triathlon. Harris is one of the important figures in Cagwin’s climb to success.

“I have been very fortunate to have great mentors, people that helped guide me,” Cagwin says. “I always tell people if they get a chance to, get a mentor. They see things differently than a coach or parent does. They open your eyes to a life you never thought of.”

His first mentor and maybe the most important is Dr. Bill Barba, retired professor at the University of Buffalo. Barba was asked to start a student-athlete-faculty mentoring program. He initially deferred to meet with Cagwin, but finally agreed.

“I didn’t want to do that,” Barba said from his home. “Gabe sought me out, and 20 years later we are close friends.”

“It was awesome,” says Cagwin of the pairing with Barba, who officiated at Gabe and Angela Cagwin's wedding in 2014. "He’s someone I have always been able to call upon for advice. It’s been great. I’ve been very lucky."

Four years ago, Cagwin established an endowment that funds a scholarship at UB in Barba’s name.

“That’s Gabe’s way of paying back,” says Barba. “It is a very nice surprise. It’s a great tribute to have somebody do that.

“I have had hundreds of students I have helped out, but Gabe is something special. We are total opposites. I’m more scholarship and laid back and he’s an athlete. And, yet, they say opposites attract. Gabe is very smart. His analytical skills are as good as I have seen, and I have been around smart people.”

Cagwin’s professional career started at the University of Tulsa for two years (2005-07) as director of academic advising for football. He followed that with just over a year at Penn State, where he was responsible for assisting in the development and operation of fundraising programs designed to secure major gifts for the business school and the university.

Next, Cagwin moved west to UCLA, where he stayed for more than 4 years. He started out as director of major gifts before being promoted to assistant athletic director for development and increased fund raising in almost all areas. He led the $135 million campaign to renovate Pauley Pavilion.

Harris, then the COO at Arizona State, hired Cagwin in 2012. He went from associate athletic director for development to senior associate athletic director to chief business development officer in nearly eight years there.

What has been a trend wherever Cagwin is involved is the amazing increase in donations, and that was no different at ASU. He led the fundraising efforts for their $306 million capital campaign, which included renovating Sun Devil Stadium, and he had the vision for the bronze statue of Pat Tillman that proudly stands in front of the Tillman Tunnel where the football team runs onto the field Sun Devil Stadium.

Before moving to Colorado Springs, Cagwin spent just over a year in Stephenville, Texas, as vice president for institutional advancement at Tarleton State University, where they broke records for fundraising and brought in the three largest academic endowment gifts in school history.

“My time at Tarleton was really special,” says Cagwin. “From the president, to the staff, to the donors, it reminded me of why I got my Ph. D., and the impact that philanthropy can have on others and a community as a whole.”

“I love what I do,” says Cagwin, who travels all over the country on fundraising trips in his role with USA Triathlon.

“One of our goals is to grow the sport and provide everyone with the opportunity to partake in multisport. With that, getting 40 schools to sponsor women’s triathlon as an NCAA sport has been a big focus, and because of the philanthropy of others, we’ve hit our goal and want to continue to bring on more schools.”

What pushes Cagwin forward? Why does he do what he does? And how does he do it?

Maybe it goes back to when he was a kid with boundless energy, or maybe it was because he was a gifted youth who just needed a place where he could academically perform. Or maybe it comes down to him crediting the way he was raised as to why he has had success, along with finding those good mentors

“I have never been one to limit myself,” he says. “I don’t want to be pigeonholed or told I couldn’t do something. People would say I’m not the typical basketball player, that they don’t see a Division I basketball player in me.”

Well, he proved detractors wrong.

“Just being told I could never get this, I won’t do this, or won’t do that, it just fuels the fire,” he says.

Terry Mosher is a longtime sports reporter who writes a regular column on local sports personalities for the Kitsap Sun. Contact him at bigmosher@msn.com.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Terry Mosher Gabe Cagwin driven to success in higher education