Ochai Agbaji reveals his NIL advice to athletes across country

As Ochai Agbaji stars for Kansas, he’s also dishing out some tremendous advice when it comes to the world of NIL. While the Jayhawks ready for Monday’s title game against North Carolina, Agabji revealed the NIL advice he would give to other athletes around the country.

“I would say, it’s your own brand,” explained Agbaji. “It’s your own self. No one’s going to tell you to do something; it’s your decision to do whatever you want to do. I think that’s the biggest thing. Do whatever you believe in, whatever you believe in, what your brand is, just kind of represent yourself or correlate yourself with that.”

It’s sound advice from Agbaji, as it’s tough to represent brands you don’t believe in. As an athlete who’s been through both the pre-NIL era and the new world we’re entering, the Kansas star understands all that glitters isn’t gold.

Since the onset of the new allowance, Agbaji has been involved in multiple NIL ventures. First, in conjunction with Kansas Athletics, Agbaji offers Jayhawks faithful the chance to buy NFTs and other digital experiences featuring a myriad Jayhawks players. Additionally, Agbaji also has branded T-shirts available at Rally House and inside Allen Fieldhouse, which range from name and number to different designs.

Moreover, Agbaji has an NIL valuation of $63,000, according to the On3 NIL Valuation system, an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. Among all college basketball stars, Agbaji is ranked 38th overall, in-front of players like teammates Jalen Wilson and Christian Braun.

As you can see, Ochai Agbaji has been careful with brands he associates himself with regarding the NIL era of college basketball. His example, and advice, will be helpful for athletes in the future.

Ochai Agbaji reacts to being compared to legendary Kansas player

The path of Ochai Agbaji has been paved by numerous twists and turns. He joined Kansas in 2018 a wide-eyed three-star recruit, and has followed an upward trajectory all the way to being the Jayhawks’ star on their latest Final Four team.

As Agbaji prepares for one of the biggest games of his career, Kansas coach Bill Self compared him to Jayhawks legend Danny Manning. When Manning left Kansas in 1988, he did so as one of the most decorated collegiate athletes in history — a national champion, the all-time scoring leader and legend of Lawrence.

Of course, Agbaji understands how special it is to even be thought of in the same sentence as Manning. The star guard spoke about the honor that Self bestowed on him ahead of their New Orleans showdown.

“I mean, it’s an honor even being in the same sentence as Danny Manning and all those other great players,” explained Agbaji. “It just shows a lot about running your own race. A lot of people from high school, they could either come out hot or they come out underrated. I think just everyone has their own path. And that’s just how it is.”

Ochai Agbaji has had to work for everything he’s earned at Kansas. In what seems to be his swan song with the program, the star guard will look to leave Lawrence the same way Danny Manning did — with a title.