Ohio State receiver Brandon Inniss signs NIL deal with The Foundation collective

Brandon Inniss is only at the beginning of his Ohio State career. He starts classes Tuesday, getting assimilated to the college lifestyle and joining the Buckeyes football program.

He is not wasting any time profiting from his name, image and likeness. After not being allowed to monetize his publicity rights as a high school athlete in Florida, that changes with his college enrollment.

The former four-star prospect announced a relationship Monday with the Ohio State-focused NIL collective The Foundation. The No. 35 overall recruit in the 2023 cycle only adds to the talent in the Buckeyes’ wide receiver room.

Signing on with The Foundation shows the collective’s priority in fulfilling NIL possibilities outlined by the coaching staff in the recruitment process. College football coaches are not allowed to promise NIL packages when recruiting high school talent, however, they can discuss what players have previously made and what opportunities are in the market.

Signing with the NIL collective in the first week on campus is only proof. Along with the initial partnership with The Foundation, Inniss landed the keys to a Dodge Challenger from Ricart Automotive. The collective facilitated the car deal.

“Really excited to have signed Brandon as our student-athlete partner,” The Foundation’s co-founder Brian Schottenstein told On3 in a phone interview. “We have now had over 50 athletes that we’ve partnered with in the first year. This just adds to our group of student-athletes that we’ve already partnered with. Brandon’s a great person; we’re going to do a lot of great work in the community and looking forward to seeing him as a Buckeye on the field.

“The Foundation is extremely important for fans to donate to, as all proceeds go towards the student-athletes. We’re not a for-profit business making money. We’re totally nonprofit; we just want to help out the student-athletes.”

Check out the new ride we got @Brandon1inniss as THE Foundation student athlete partner. Now you really are showtime! Go Bucks! pic.twitter.com/HPiRr0RHw3

— THE Foundation (@TheFoundation1_) May 8, 2023

Represented by Rosenhaus Sports for NIL representation, Inniss turned down offers from Alabama and USC to play for Brian Hartline and Ryan Day. The 6-foot, 190-pound receiver totaled 1,336 receiving yards and 15 touchdown catches on 73 receptions through 15 games this past season.

Signing with The Foundation is only a start for Florida’s Gatorade Player of the Year. Inniss will have a chance to compete this fall and contribute in a stacked wide receiver room.

The Foundation fulfilling transfer portal needs

Raising funds has become a top priority for collectives across the country. The Foundation held its spring festival last month at the Schottenstein Center. Along with a silent auction, tickets cost $250, with a minimum of $10,000 for a table. All profits from the event went directly to athletes.

Schottenstein described the event as a “success.” Funds have been deployed to recent enrollees on the football and basketball teams. The transfer portal has emerged as a focus, too. The collective is an official partner of Ohio State now, too.

Ohio State had just 12 players enter free agency, significantly lower than most Power 5 programs. The Buckeyes only lost two players in basketball to the portal.

“Really excited about how our brand has taken off in the last year, not only the incoming players but keeping players out of the transfer portal,” Schottenstein said. “That’s been a big boost The Foundation has been able to provide for these programs, making sure we retain the athletes when they come to Ohio State.”

Brandon Inniss’ On3 NIL Valuation

A top-100 prospect in his 2023 recruiting class, Brandon Inniss has earned comparisons to John Metchie. Signing with Rosenhaus sets him up for success in NIL, too. The agency reps Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy and his new teammate, Carnell Tate.

Inniss has a $126,000 On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks in the top 625 of college football. The valuation is also in the top 100 for wide receivers. He has already started to build out his brand with more than 112,000 social media followers.

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 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.