Champions Classic features some of top NIL success stories in college basketball

While most of the attention in college sports is on the football season’s home stretch, some early-season basketball matchups give fans a taste of March Madness in November. The Champions Classic featuring Duke, Michigan State, Kansas and Kentucky is a perfect example.

The Blue Devils face the Spartans at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the United Center, followed by the Jayhawks and Wildcats tipping off at 8:30 p.m. It’s a double-header featuring the No. 1 ranked Kansas, No. 9 Duke, eighteenth-ranked Michigan State and a Kentucky squad that’s No. 17.

It’s also a battle that includes some of the top NIL performers in college sports. On3 looks at five players in the Champions Classic who have done well with NIL deals and have massive On3 NIL Valuations.

Jared McCain

School: Duke
Position: Guard
On3 NIL Valuation: $1 million
Followers: 2.6 million

The Duke guard has quickly established himself as one of the top talents in the country on the basketball court and NIL space. The former five-star recruit has built a social media following of more than 2.6 million. Jared McCain is averaging 8.5 points in the Blue Devils’ first two games, and he’s averaging 2.5 rebounds. He recorded five assists against Arizona last week.

McCain has not struggled to find NIL deals, even before enrolling at Duke because California allows high schoolers to monetize their name, image and likeness. The back-to-back California Gatorade Player of the Year winner averaged 18 points, 7.1 rebounds and four assists in 34 games as a senior at Sacramento’s Centennial High School.

He’s repped by Excel Sports Management for NIL deals. His growing list of deals includes Lemon Perfect, crocs, Champs Sports, the Duke NIL Store, Panini America, Cash App, Panera and Shipt.

Hunter Dickinson

School: Kansas
Position: Center
On3 NIL Valuation: $843,000
Followers: 112,000

Before transferring to Kansas this spring, the 7-foot-1 center only had a small portion of publicly announced NIL deals. Those included Cameo, Engage and Outback Steakhouse.

Thanks to the one-time transfer rule, Hunter Dickinson entered the portal and explored options leading to one of the most anticipated commitment decisions in recent memory in college basketball.

What he found was a high-stakes world with a multitude of cash options. According to ESPN, Dickinson’s minimum earning potential was $500,000. Days before he committed to Kansas, Maryland reportedly made a $2 million offer because it got “energized, motivated and pissed off.”

Since arriving in Lawrence, he’s signed with the Kansas-focused collective Mass St. Through the organization, he was one of 11 of KU’s top stars in football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball featured on JD Motorsports driver Brennan Poole’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race car this summer.

He joined adidas’ NIL ambassador network, too.

A three-time All-Big Ten selection at Michigan, he earned second-team All-American honors in 2021. He’s made an immediate impact in Lawrence, averaging 19.5 points in the Jayhawks’ first two games.

Kyle Filipowski

School: Duke
Position: Power Forward
On3 NIL Valuation: $795,000
Followers: 48,000

Kyle Filipowski, the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, is a former five-star recruit. He was also the No. 1 player in the 2022 class. He never missed a beat making the jump to the college level. As On3’s Jamie Shaw noted of the power forward during his recruitment, he has a fierce man streak. The 7-footer has no problem competing every possession, talking nonstop.

Filipowski turned down positive first-round NBA draft buzz to return to Duke for a second season. He finished his freshman season averaging a solid 15.1 points, 9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals while knocking down 44.1% percent of his shots. He’s off to a hot start this season – averaging 25 points, 57.1% from 3-point range and 7.5 rebounds.

Working with Excel Sports Management, he’s mainly been focused on basketball. But he does have some impressive NIL deals on his resume: Cuts Clothing, the Duke NIL Store and the apartment complex Crowne at 501.

Robert Dillingham

School: Kentucky
Position: Guard
On3 NIL Valuation: $714,000
Followers: 723,000

Originally from the Charlotte area, Robert Dillingham emerged through the AAU ranks but exploded onto the national scene after his sophomore season at Combine Academy where he averaged 21.2 points, 4.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds. He led his team to a 29-3 record and was named the Charlotte Observers’ Player of the Year.

The freshman has made an instant difference for the Wildcats so far. Through two games, Dillingham is UK’s second-leading scorer with a 14.5-point average. He’s also averaging five rebounds and has three steals.

With more than 723,000 followers, Dillingham has an NIL deal with KINLÒ. But now that he’s become one of the top players for the Wildcats’ look for brands to continue to gravitate toward him.

DJ Wagner Jr.

School: Kentucky
Position: Guard
On3 NIL Valuation: $558,000
Followers: 181,000

DJ Wagner Jr. is another member of UK’s heralded 2023 recruiting class. He arrived in Lexington as a Five-Star Plus+ recruit and the No. 1 combo guard in the 2023 class. He’s started the first two games for the Wildcats, averaging 12 points with four steals.

Wagner was a household name in the basketball world long before he ever put on a college uniform. He’s the son of a former Memphis star and NBA player Dajuan Wagner. Plus, he’s the grandson of Louisville legend and NBA player “Ice Man” Milt Wagner.

The family ties and success on the court have allowed Wagner to land a number of impact NIL deals.  

Wagner, who is represented by WME Sports, first turned heads in NIL when he signed a deal with Drake’s Nike sub-label NOCTA in 2022. He eventually went on to become one of five players to land NIL deals with the sportswear and sneaker giant and starred in an ad with USC’s JuJu Watkins. Since then, he’s added an NIL partnership with Lex Exotics, a car club based out of Lexington that allows its members to store their own vehicles or access vehicles from the company’s fleet of high-value cars.

About the On3 NIL Valuation

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.