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5-star Texas RB signee Cedric Baxter signs NIL representation deal

Jeremy Crabtreeby:Jeremy Crabtree•01/05/23•

jeremycrabtree

texas-longhorns-final-rankings-in-on300-for-2023
(Chad Simmons/On3)

Five-star Texas Longhorns running back signee Cedric Baxter Jr. has inked an NIL representation agreement with Athlete Advantage.

Baxter is the No. 23 recruit in the country and the top running back prospect according to the On3 Consensus. He signed with the Longhorns in December after being heavily pursued by Florida, Florida State, Miami, Texas A&M and a host of other teams.

Despite his status as one of the nation’s best recruits and having a strong social media presence, the Orlando (Florida) Edgewater native was not able to execute NIL deals while in high school.

Florida High School Athletic Association rules prohibit student-athletes from participating in NIL deals without losing their eligibility. The Sunshine State is one of the 25 states that have high school associations that still forbid student-athletes from participating in NIL activities.

While 19 state high school associations changed their bylaws in 2022 to allow NIL on the high school level, other football powerhouse states like Georgia, Ohio and Texas have yet to make a move toward allowing it. Currently, Arkansas, Nevada, Michigan and Missouri officials are having serious discussions about revising their current NIL regulations.

About Athlete Advantage

Based in Lexington, Kentucky, Athlete Advantage got its start as one of the major players in the Kentucky NIL space.

The company initially founded The 15, a Kentucky-focused collective in December 2021. However, the collective was reorganized and relaunched under The 15 Club name in November 2022. 

Wildcats quarterback Will Levis is one of the Athlete Advantage’s biggest names it helped facilitate NIL deals while he was at UK. Plus, Athlete Advantage also recently signed running back Ray Davis, who transferred to Kentucky from Vanderbilt in December.

Nonetheless, Athlete Advantage has been aggressively pursuing student-athletes to represent outside of the Kentucky market. And Cedric Baxter is easily the biggest high school prospect the company has signed.

“Athlete Advantage is about cultivating high levels of protection, partnerships and empowerment to the collegiate athlete that have never before existed,” the company’s website says. “Uniquely connected and experienced, our team operates with the sole focus on providing business opportunities & education to the athlete while helping corporate clients to maximize the partnership’s value.

“We build personal brands that drive life-changing opportunities for our athletes. Through strategic marketing partnerships, the sky is the limit.”

Cedric Baxter Jr. has strong On3 NIL Valuation

The sky is definitely the limit for Cedric Baxter Jr.

He has a massive annual On3 NIL Valuation of $327,000. He ranks No. 16 overall on On3’s High School Football NIL Ranking. Baxter’s value surely will increase now that he’s heading to the Longhorns and to Austin – one of the strongest NIL markets in college football.

About the ON3 NIL Valuation

The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athlete’s projected annual value (PAV).

A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation establishes the overall NIL market and projected 12-month growth rate by measuring two categories, Brand Value Index and Roster Value Index.  

The Brand Value Index measures the national licensing and sponsorship market. The Roster Value Index collects data from all school Collectives into a proprietary Roster Management software. Brand Value and Roster Value are combined to create the overall NIL market.

Using the overall NIL market size, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s Brand Value and Roster Value by using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories:

+ Performance
+ Influence
+ Exposure

While the algorithm includes deal data, it does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals athletes have completed to date, nor does it set an athlete’s NIL valuation for their entire career. The On3 NIL Valuation calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out to as long as 12 months into the future. The On3 NIL Valuation is publicly available. Performance, Influence, and Exposure ratings along with the athlete’s personal Brand Value Index and Roster Value Index are available only to the athlete in the “Athlete Verified” private dashboard on the On3 Athlete Network.