Caitlin Clark, Jalen Milroe, DJ Burns highlight 2024 NIL Award nominees

The nominations for the 2024 NIL Awards were recently released. The awards highlighting the most impactful players, brands, innovators and breakthrough performers in the NIL ecosystem will be handed out during the NIL Summit, which takes place June 22-24 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

Here’s a look at the nominees in some of the top categories:

Female Athlete of the Year

• Alex Glover – SMU volleyball
• Alyssa Ustby – North Carolina basketball
• Brylie St. Clair – Mississippi State softball
• Caitlin Clark – Iowa women’s basketball
• Gianna Bullock – Oregon track and field
• Jayda Coleman – Oklahoma softball
• Madisen Skinner – Texas basketball
• Olivia Fabry – Notre Dame track and field

This is an all-star group of female athletes and deal makers, but nobody reshaped women’s college sports more than Clark. She combined her success on the court with some of the most impactful NIL deals ever seen.

Male Athlete of the Year

• Baylor Scheierman – Creighton basketball
• Dillon Gabriel – Oregon football
• Jalen Milroe – Alabama football
• Noah Fifita – Arizona football
• Robbie Avila – Indiana State basketball transfer
• Sam Hurley – Texas track and field
• Sam Phillips – Nebraska gymnastics
• Tyler Sandoval – Princeton lacrosse

Another all-star group with top standouts in basketball, football, track, gymnastics and lacrosse. Keep an eye on Milroe in this category. He created the LANK brand that has become a huge hit with Crimson Tide and college football fans. Gabriel has been impactful, using his brand to give back to his local community in Hawaii. Avila’s trademark goggles and ability to make plays from the paint took the college basketball world by storm, and KSR’s Matt Jones affectionately dubbed him “Cream Abdul-Jabbar.”

Breakthrough Athlete of the Year

• DJ Burns – NC State basketball
• Grace Stephens – Monmouth track and field
• Jack Gohlke – Oakland basketball
• Katriina Wright – Oregon track and field
• Milaysia Fulwiley – South Carolina basketball
• Sydney Smith – Southern Connecticut State gymnastics

Even if you haven’t heard of all the names in this category, brands and NIL agents sure have. Smith, Wright and Stevens have massive followings and executed a number of impactful deals this school year. Fulwiley is a rising star and NIL brand for national champion South Carolina. Gohlke will forever live in March Madness history for his long-range bombs and NIL deals. But Burns captivated the nation’s attention in March and brands loved working with him. During NC State’s run to the Final Four, Burns inked agreements with adidas, Barstool Sports, CVS Pharmacy, Daps, Manscaped, Raising Cane’s and Intuit TurboTax.

Innovator of the Year

• Brandon Dwyer – Florida Gulf Coast basketball
• Cara Bognar – Illinois swimming
• Justin Stuckey – Auburn track and field
• Kenlee Newcom – Western Kentucky soccer
• Naji Elder – Santa Clara soccer
• Paige McCormick – Louisville swimming and diving

This group has worked a ton of brand deals throughout their careers, but they’ve also been strong advocates for NIL while building out their future careers. For example, McCormick was among a group of athletes invited to Capitol Hill to discuss the current state of NIL. Stucky is also a budding sports broadcaster who has built a loyal following on social media

Best Institutional Program

• Cincinnati
• Florida
• Grand Canyon
• Nebraska
• Ohio State
• Ole Miss
• Saint Joseph’s
• UCLA

Brand of the Year

• Buffalo Wild Wings
• CELSIUS
• CVS
• Keurig
• OnIt
• Intuit TurboTax

It’s hard to argue the impact these brands had on NIL in the 2023-2024 school year.

Buffalo Wild Wings struck deals with a number of March Madness heroes every time games went into overtime. CELSIUS expanded its NIL focus through deals with college basketball’s top young stars. CVS was all over the place on social media with NIL deals orchestrated by Postgame. OnIt worked with more than 4,400 student-athletes across 109 teams at 39 universities during the 2023-24 academic year, providing guaranteed royalties and producing officially licensed team trading card sets. And TurboTax struck numerous deals with top athlete influencers ahead of tax season.

Previous NIL Award Winners

The 2023 winners featured household names in college sports, including Florida gymnast and 2024 Olympic hopeful Trinity Thomas in the Female Athlete of the Year category. LSU women’s basketball star Flau’jae Johnson was named the 2023 Innovator of the Year for her ability to transcend the court, NIL and music game. Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels was also awarded as the Male Scholar Athlete of the Year.

You can view all of the nominees at NILSummit.com.