Its name is Sam. It’s here to support the well-being of student-athletes across the country.

And it’s Temple proud.

Sam is a virtual mentor and the face of an artificial intelligence-powered mentorship app being developed by researchers at Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management .

The app, JournAI, was co-developed by STHM associate professor Elizabeth Taylor, with Jeff Nyquist, former Owls men’s soccer player Robin Goetz and former volleyball player Taylor Davenport. They received around one-third of the $100,000 awarded for the 2025 NCAA Innovations in Research and Practice Grant .

It was the third time Taylor applied for the grant, and the first that she incorporated AI in the proposal.

“I thought it had a really great chance because it’s incre

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