NIL Newsletter #120 | Bombshell California lawsuit, Paige Bueckers, Georgia Football + ICYMI Ticker
Welcome to the NIL Newsletter by Optimum Sports Consulting - providing valuable, actionable NIL resources for student athletes, administrators, agents and other sport professionals.
Recapping NIL This Week:
NIL at the forefront of bombshell article involving multiple attorneys, student athletes
T.A. Cunningham is a 6-foot-6, 265-pound five-star defensive lineman who starred last season as a sophomore at Johns Creek High in suburban Atlanta. On Tuesday, he filed a lawsuit against the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body of high school sports in California, to gain eligibility to play this season for Los Alamitos (Calif.) High, after the CIF denied his application for a hardship waiver.
At a court hearing Thursday, hours before Cunningham’s new team’s fifth game of the season, a judge denied Cunningham’s request for a temporary restraining order. CIF has until Sept. 27 to rule on his eligibility. Currently, 16 states allow high schoolers to sign NIL deals, including California. The three top Power 5 talent producers – Florida, Georgia and Texas – do not.
So who convinced the Cunningham’s (T.A. and his 8th grade brother) to move to California? Below is an excerpt from The Athletic:
According to Cunningham’s filing – authored by [Attorney Michael] Caspino – [Attorney Darren] Heitner and California-based marketing agent Justin Giangrande promised there would be “lucrative contracts available that could help support the family.”
Heitner disputes this and accuses Caspino of planting the idea that a move to California would be lucrative for Cunningham.
“Big Rev [Cunningham’s father] informed me that he had been communicating regularly with lawyer Michael Caspino,” Heitner wrote to The Athletic. “During that phone call, Big Rev specifically asked if I could do what Caspino does, but better. I asked what he meant by that. He said that Caspino was promising him that he could secure millions of dollars for T.A. Cunningham while he was in high school and that all his son would need to do is move to California, where it was legal for high school athletes to earn money from NIL deals.”
What is not in dispute is that Heitner referred Big Rev to Giangrande, who competes with Caspino in the market for securing NIL deals for players. In a presentation deck for Giangrande’s company, Levels Sports Group, that is included as an exhibit in Cunningham’s complaint against the CIF, Heitner is listed as the group’s outside counsel, and Orange County-based trainer Chris Flores, better known as “Coach Frogg,” is listed as a co-founder.
According to the lawsuit and interviews, Levels Sports Group set out trying to find deals for T.A. Cunningham, though not with the early success that Big Rev sought. In June, according to text messages and airline boarding passes included in Cunningham’s lawsuit, Levels Sports Group paid for the defensive lineman to visit USC, UCLA, Michigan, Michigan State, Central Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas and Texas A&M. In one of the texts exchanged with Big Rev, Giangrande wrote: “I will introduce you guys to all the big boosters.”
Some of the college coaches who were once fawning over T.A. have begun to re-examine their interest. “It’s such a s-–show right now,” said one Power 5 recruiting coordinator, who like the other college coaches quoted in this story is barred from speaking publicly about recruits under NCAA rules.
UConn WBB star Paige Bueckers signs NIL endorsement deal with Bose
Paige Bueckers won't be on the court of the UConn women's basketball team this season as she recovers from ACL surgery. But she did make headlines on Monday when she announced to her 1 million Instagram followers that she has a new endorsement deal with audio equipment company Bose.
Bueckers wrote in paid partnership post: "I am excited to officially join the @bose family. You already know the soundtrack to my comeback is going to be epic and louder than ever thanks to Bose. I’ve got my QCE II earbuds in and we are locked in. #TeamBose #SoundIsPower."
Bose, based in Framingham, Mass., is the latest high-profile company to partner with Bueckers. She announced a deal with the footwear company Crocs in June, and became the first college athlete to sign with Gatorade when she announced that partnership last year. In August, Bueckers made her Gatorade commercial debut - a spot that was filmed before she tore her ACL over the summer.
Bueckers' first NIL deal was with Stock X, a footwear and apparel marketplace brand. She also joined the education technology company Chegg as a student-athlete ambassador, a deal announced during the Final Four in the spring.
Bueckers, who will turn 21 next month, is represented by Wasserman, the agency with a client list that includes Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart.
AARP Georgia partners with UGA QB Stetson Bennett, fellow national champs on new PSA
AARP Georgia and four members of the national champion University of Georgia football team have come together to help Georgians stay safe from fraud and scams through releasing a video promoting the organization’s Fraud Watch Network (FWN). This video represents the first time collegiate SAs have been spokespersons for AARP Georgia.
The video, seen here on Twitter and Facebook, promotes AARP’s Fraud Watch Network, which is a nationally acclaimed program to help protect older adults and their loved ones from scams and fraud. The video features Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, offensive linemen Sedrick Van Pran and Tate Ratledge, and tight end Ryland Goede.
The FWN is free to all, with no requirement to be an AARP member, or over the age of 50 to take part. FWN's consumer offerings include educational events, online news and information (including more than 100 stories last year alone), much of which is promoted online and on social media channels. The FWN puts out bi-weekly texts or email "Watchdog Alerts," and includes regular Fraud Watch features in AARP Bulletin and AARP the Magazine.
“For Georgians, there was nothing bigger than last year’s national championship run, and we at AARP are proud to be partnering with some of the young men who made that possible,” said AARP Georgia State Director Debra Tyler Horton. “We are very excited to have this group of Dawgs help raise awareness of how Georgians can avoid getting scammed.”
ICYMI Ticker
A new, non-profit foundation designed to help University of Maryland football players navigate NIL opportunities in community service and prepare for post-college careers was announced Wednesday. The organization, dubbed The Best Is Ahead Foundation (TBIAF), said its mission is to create programs and initiatives in which Terrapin football players can inspire and enrich underserved youth in the Baltimore/DC area through acts of service, volunteering and partnership.
UCLA MBB star Amari Bailey has signed with Ethika and will receive a percentage of revenue from his products, per TMZ Sports. Bailey - one of the top-ranked high school players from the 2022 class - will be joining Rick Ross and Lil Wayne, who also have deals with the brand.
Per Syracuse.com, local businessman and Syracuse University's most famous booster is getting involved with NIL. Adam Weitsman will be offering $1 million per year to one five-star football player and one five-star basketball player to come and represent one of his companies. Weitsman owns waste management, restaurant and cryptocurrency mining businesses, and says he plans to target athletes with high wattage name recognition who are “role models.”
Alabama walk-on long snapper Kneeland Hibbett has pledged to donate a share of his NIL proceeds to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, which works with former football players and others who developed traumatic brain injuries from repeated hits to the head. Hibbett’s grandfather, Dennis Homan was a teammate of Ken Stabler and Ray Perkins, playing for Bear Bryant on the Alabama team that won it all in 1965. About 20 years ago, Homan’s family began noticing his memory was slipping and suspected he may be suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease that afflicts individuals who sustain repeated head trauma.
Eccker Sports has entered a multi-year partnership with scoutSMART, a national recruiting data analysis platform for college athletics, to provide educational services for NIL to member high schools, junior colleges, student athletes and coaches as they go through the recruiting process. More HERE.
Colorado State has partnered with Dyehard Fan Supply as their official retail merchandise partner. Dyehard will manage and operate Colorado State's in-venue, brick-and-mortar and e-commerce team shops.
Eastern Michigan basketball star Emoni Bates was arraigned on gun charges Monday afternoon. EMU announced he was suspended from “practice and playing privileges” following the arraignment. Bates’ attorney, Steve Haney, told ESPN: “Reserve judgement on this. There’s way more to the story. He borrowed someone’s car, was pulled over and a gun was located in the car.” Bates is a former Gatorade National Player of the Year, and is partnered with Raymond Brothers and Roc Nation Sports.
UCF announced a partnership with Mercury to create a cutting-edge digital experience platform for athletes and fans. More HERE.
Pittsburgh has expanded its partnership with INFLCR to introduce the Forged Here Exchange - a new NIL platform for Pitt student athlete NIL opportunities.
UConn has expanded its partnership with Opendorse to include an official NIL marketplace. More HERE.