5-star Nick Smith signs NIL rep deal with Lebron’s agent

Five-star Arkansas Razorback basketball signee Nick Smith has signed with Klutch Sports Group to represent him in his search for NIL deals.

Klutch Sports Group, a subdivision of the United Talent Agency, has experienced a meteoric rise under the leadership of NBA agent Rich Paul, according to Forbes. The agency represents some of the NBA’s biggest names, including Lebron James, Ben Simmons, Anthony Davis and John Wall. Klutch Sports also has a football division that represents two of the first three picks in the 2020 NFL draft.

The deal was announced Friday afternoon in a social media post from Klutch Sports. The terms of the deal were not released.

Welcome @ntsmith1402! #KLUTCH #NIL pic.twitter.com/3FZyDJNFxt

— Klutch Sports Group (@KlutchSports) April 1, 2022

Nick Smith of Sherwood (Ark.) North Little Rock currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $9,200. Smith ranks No. 314 in the On3 High School Basketball NIL Rankings. He also has an On3 Per Post Value of $122 on his Twitter account that has 14.6K followers.

The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.

Several NIL insiders believe Nick Smith’s value is going to increase significantly now that he’s with Klutch Sports. It also doesn’t hurt his potential NIL value that he stayed in-state to play college basketball with the Razorbacks.

Smith is the third high-profile student-athlete to sign a NIL representation deal in the past four days. Earlier this week, USC receiver Mario Williams and Alabama cornerback signee Earl Little Jr. announced NIL deals with Roc Nation Sports, which was founded by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. 

Nick Smith ranks No. 8 in 2002 class

Nick Smith is the No. 8 player in the 2022 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. The five-star recruit is also the top-ranked shooting guard and the No. 1 player in Arkansas.

Smith also earned solid marks for his performance during the McDonald’s All-American week. He picked the Razorbacks over Alabama, Auburn and Arkansas Pine-Bluff.