Newsletter #45 | Reilyn Turner x Nike, Travis Hunter x Barstool, Florida NIL Amendment + Deep Dive & ICYMI
Welcome to the NIL Newsletter by Optimum Sports Consulting - providing valuable, actionable NIL resources for athletes, administrators, agencies and other sport professionals.
This Thursday Newsletter includes:
1. Recapping NIL this week
2. Deep Dive: 'Tis the Season for NIL Giving
3. ICYMI: November Opendorse Data Released
Recapping NIL This Week:
UCLA soccer player Reilyn Turner makes history as Nike’s first NIL deal
Nike officially announced UCLA soccer's Reilyn Turner as the first college athlete to sign a NIL deal with the company. The sophomore forward was one of Bruins' leading scorers last season and also won the Pac-12 freshman of the year award in 2020 when she led the entire conference in goals. Turner, a native of Aliso Viejo, Calif., is also part of the United States women's national team setup with the U-20 squad.
“Off the field, I’m proudest of the person that I’ve become,” Turner said. “What keeps me humble is knowing that I’m playing for something bigger than myself. It’s not about me. It’s about my team. My family. My community.” Turner is represented by Wasserman.
Nike’s agreements with college student athletes in the United States will include an element that connects back to their local communities. Because the impact of sport goes beyond competition and success — it’s also about the changes you can make to give everyone an opportunity for a more level playing field. Or, as Turner puts it, “Whether it’s the community you grow up with or the community you grow into, there’s so much positive impact that can come from how they influence you and how you influence them.”
Jackson State’s Deion Sanders flips #1 football recruit in signing day shocker
Travis Hunter, a five-star defensive back and the No. 1 overall recruit in the nation, signed with the Tigers on Wednesday in one of the most stunning signing-day flips in history. Hunter had been committed to Florida State before spurning the Power Five program for the FCS.
Shortly after the announcement, speculation began to swirl about an NIL deal between Hunter and Barstool Sports — which hosts a podcast called 21st and Prime with JSU coach Deion Sanders. A JSU source called the speculation "unequivocally not true" after a tweet from a fake account parodying ESPN reporter Adam Schefter stated Hunter had reached a $1.5 million deal with Barstool. When asked on Twitter by Darren Heitner about a possible link, Founder Dave Portnoy said no comment. Portnoy later tweeted, “#barstoolmillions #nil”
This isn’t the first time Sanders has lured players with Power Five offers to Jackson State. Last year, De’Jahn Warren, a top junior college cornerback, signed with Jackson State after previously committing to Georgia. Jackson State also signed four-star tackle Javonte Gardner, four-star defensive tackle Katron Evans, four-star receiver Trevonte Rucker, three-star defensive tackle Braezhon Ross and three-star linebacker Baron Hopson in its 2021 recruiting class. All of those players had offers from Power Five programs, but chose Jackson State.
Florida NIL legislation architect Chip Lamarca announces amendment
Florida Representative Chip Lamarca filed a new bill Wednesday to amend the state’s NIL law making it easier for the Sunshine State’s schools to facilitate NIL deals for their athletes. But it did not come as a response, he says, to Florida State losing a high-profile recruit to Jackson State in one of the biggest stunners in the history of national signing day. The timing was just coincidental. He’s been working on the new bill for nearly six months.
Players, coaches and administrators from Florida’s state universities have for months encouraged him and other legislators to amend portions of the state’s NIL law that puts them at a disadvantage when recruiting against other schools located in states with either no state law or a less restrictive state law.
The new bill allows schools more freedom to facilitate NIL deals by striking language that prohibited schools from “causing compensation to be directed” to athletes. This comes on the heels of an NCAA-led investigation into school-brokered NIL deals at BYU and Miami (FL).
Deep Dive: 'Tis the Season for NIL Giving
Student athletes donating their NIL earnings is at an all-time high as the first holiday season post-Alston is upon us. What causes are SAs donating to and what trends are we seeing? OSC’s Ian Daniels breaks down everything you need to know in this week’s Deep Dive.
Written by Ian Daniels (@IanDanls)
News broke on the morning of Tuesday, December 14th, that Nike has finally partnered with their first college athlete for Name, Image, and Likeness sponsorship. UCLA sophomore soccer player Reilyn Turner is the first college athlete to team up with the powerhouse apparel brand five months after the implementation of the NCAA’s interim NIL guidelines have taken effect. With fewer than 5 thousand followers on Instagram, Turner may come as a surprise to most as the first player chosen by Nike with other athletes like Paige Bueckers and Chet Holmgren sporting well over 300 thousand followers each (almost 1 million for Bueckers) in much more visible sports. Nike’s deal with Turner, however, has a very special purpose beyond getting eyes on products. The vision is to have the UCLA forward connect with her local community in Los Angeles to give back.
This has become a common theme among college athletes across sports: generosity. From the advent of NIL, student athletes have taken the opportunity to give back to their local communities and various charities. Despite the droning criticisms of NIL turning amateur athletics into a profit driven venture, student athletes from all over the country have shown all the good their now monetizable brand can do for those in need.
We’ve already touched on a few examples in articles past, including Kentucky wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson and Ohio State lineman Harry Miller, but in the spirit of giving this holiday season, we’ll take the time to highlight a few more student athletes making a difference.
One of the first athletes to jump at the chance to help his community was 2021 Heisman Trophy finalist Kenny Pickett. In August, the Pittsburgh QB began selling T-shirts for “Pickett’s Partners” and donating all proceeds to the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania. Pickett attributed meeting one of his best childhood friends during his time at the Boys & Girls Club of New Jersey and made a point to give back to the same organization in his second home of Pittsburgh.
Another early adopter of the philanthropic movement within NIL was Texas QB Casey Thompson. In early July, Thompson pledged all proceeds from his Cameo profile to NoKidHungry.org, an organization helping to fight childhood hunger in underprivileged communities.
This kind of work has also prompted philanthropy-adjacent companies like GoFundMe to seek out college athletes to assist with their causes. After Florida State offensive lineman Dillan Gibbons used his first chance to earn money to help a young fan with a disability get to Tallahassee to watch his first game as a Seminole, GoFundMe reached out to support his cause. After breaking his initial goal of $30 thousand in less than 24 hours, his goal for Take Timothy to Tally was raised to $75 thousand. Since then, Gibbons has started Big Man Big Heart, Inc. This non-profit corporation’s goal is to help promote other college athletes using NIL to “do good and promote unity, positivity, and kindness in their community and beyond” with the help of GoFundMe.
Gibbons has since surprised members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Big Bend in Tallahassee with a shopping spree accompanied by his teammates. Big Man Big Heart helped raise money to give the children $100 gift cards to go on a shopping spree and another $100 gift card to give back to their families for the holidays. This festive philanthropic effort by the Florida State football team isn’t out of the ordinary. Numerous programs have made collective pledges to donate their earnings to charitable causes.
In August, the members of the Kentucky Men’s Basketball team pledged to donate 10% of any business opportunity to charity. More recently, the offensive linemen at the University of Texas helped launch the Horns with Heart “The Pancake Factory” program. Beginning August 2022, every Texas offensive lineman on scholarship will received $50 thousand annually to use in support of charitable causes in conjunction with their name, image, and likeness. Capped at $800 thousand annually, or 16 players total, this is one of the largest annual pledges to both student athletes and charity since the NIL began.
Other athletes taking part in these charitable endeavors include Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy, who donated $10 thousand to various Big 10 children’s hospitals and the families of the Oxford High School victims. His teammate, RB Blake Corum, has been active during the holidays as well, using his NIL money to buy Thanksgiving turkeys for families in need. Miami safety Amari Carter started his non-profit, Survive Foundation, to assist people suffering from hunger and homelessness. Examples like these have become progressively more common as the NIL market develops and we get deeper into the holiday season. How athletes get creative with how they give back to their communities through NIL will only become more intriguing as time goes on.