Armando Bacot, Jeremy Roach ink NIL deals with BOA Nutrition

BOA Nutrition is tapping into the North Carolina–Duke rivalry as means of NIL promotion.

The sports performance supplement company agreed to terms on NIL deals with Armando Bacot and Jeremy Roach. The pair of college basketball stars appeared in a promotion for the brand on Instagram on Thursday.

North Carolina’s Bacot and Duke’s Roach promoted the company’s BOA Ignite in the video. BOA’s products are delivered through its patented OraBlast technology, which uses an aerosol spray to bring active ingredients to athletes. A two-second spray delivers the same sodium as a 12-ounce sports drink.

As part of the agreements, each athlete is receiving an equity stake in the company. Opposed to a one-off social media post for compensation, they will become shareholders of the North Carolina-based brand. It’s become increasingly popular in the NIL space.

Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi State sports medicine programs all use BOA products.

Bacot is represented by Engage, while Roach works with Intrusive Sports Agency. These mark BOA’s first NIL deals. BOA can reportedly help athletes hydrate up to 10 times faster than liquids, powders or pills.

“As a business student studying entrepreneurship, I was excited by the opportunity to work with BOA Nutrition,” Bacot said in a statement. “In business and in basketball, I like having every competitive advantage I can get, and BOA is the complete package.”

Bacot led North Carolina to the national championship game last season, putting his name on the map. The preseason first-team All-American is currently averaging a double-double, with 18.6 points and 11.1 rebounds a game.

Roach is Duke team captain and is currently averaging 11.9 points and 3.2 assists per game.

“Some of us were having problems with cramping during the game, and this was a way to play with confidence and know that you wouldn’t hit that wall,” Roach said about the product. “The blast was easy to use, and you didn’t need to drink a lot of extra fluids just to stay hydrated.” 

Armando Bacot, Jeremy Roach’s On3 NIL Valuation

Bacot holds a $1 million On3 NIL Valuation. He’s been a major winner in NIL, signing partnerships with Dunkin’, Rhoback, MoneyLion and ZIPS Car Wash. His evaluation sits at No. 22 in the On3 NIL 100, which is the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

The valuation also ranks No. 3 in college basketball.

The Duke star has a $163,000 On3 NIL Valuation. Roach has more than 67,000 social media followers. His valuation sits in the top 50 of college basketball.

The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories: performance, influence and exposure.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value

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 accounts for an athlete’s roster value and brand value. Roster value is the value an athlete has by being a member of his or her team at his or her school, which factors into the role of NIL collectives. Brand value factors in an athlete’s personal brand and the value it could bring to regional and national brands outside of the scope of NIL collectives.