Five-star OL Samson Okunlola, aka ‘Pancake Honcho,’ promotes Kodiak Cakes

Five-star offensive lineman Samson Okunlola of Brockton (Massachusetts) Thayer Academy is known for his pancakes on the field. He’s such a dominating blocker that he’s developed an alter ego known as “Pancake Honcho.” So, it’s only fitting he promoted Kodiak Cakes – the company known for its protein and vitamin-infused flapjacks – on Monday.

Kodiak Cakes certainly garnered some attention for sending the sample to Okunlola. It could be the beginning of a relationship that translates into a NIL deal down the road.

Okunlola shared the sample from Kodiak Cakes on Monday morning on social media to his more than 12,000 Twitter followers. In the post, he said he’s ready to “start serving” more pancakes. He continued the post with #PancakeHoncho and #stackem.

Okunlola, the No. 16-ranked overall player according to the On3 Consensus, is set to reveal his decision on Thursday. Florida, Miami, Alabama and Michigan State are among those under strong consideration down the home stretch, but the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine lists Miami and Florida as the two favorites.

How ‘Pancake Honcho’ was born

Samson Okunlola told the Brockton Enterprise the “Pancake Honcho” nickname was birthed after his sophomore season in honor of devastating blocks where he would block defenders off their feet. He said he came up with the idea with his brother, Samuel Okunlola, now a defensive lineman at Pitt.

“I came up with it,” Okunlola said. “But he was my inspiration.”

Pancake Honcho quickly became a hit from a branding and recognition standpoint. It got so popular it has become a central part of Okunlola’s recruiting process.

In fact, Okunlola went viral with a post from his November visit to Florida. While in Gainesville, he shared a series of images from an iconic pancake chef photo shoot. The shoot featured him drizzling syrup over a tall stack of pancakes while in a Gator uniform.

@PANCAKEHONCHO X @FloridaGators #pancakehoncho pic.twitter.com/22rMaZhUS5

— Samson Okunlola ‘23 (@SAMSONOKUNLOLA_) November 18, 2022

Okunlola has massive On3 NIL Valuation

With his status as a star recruit and a social media following of more than 28,000, Samson Okunlola has one of the largest On3 NIL Valuations in high school football at $223,000. It ranks No. 35 overall in the high school ranks and No. 304 overall in college and high school sports.

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 first establishes the overall NIL licensing market and expected growth rate to create a Brand Value Index. Then data from all Collectives is compiled into proprietary Roster Management software to create an industry-wide Roster Value Index. Brand Value and Roster Value market data are then combined to create the overall NIL market site.

Once the overall NIL market size has been established, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value 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 an Athlete’s Roster and Brand Value are available only to the athlete in the “Athlete Verified” private dashboard on the On3 Athlete Network.