Kentucky's Rob Dillingham cashing in on NIL deals ahead of NCAA Tournament

Rob Dillingham may just have one shot at March Madness, but he is making sure to take advantage of the opportunity.

The Kentucky guard and former four-star recruit is expected to be a lottery pick in June’s NBA draft. For now, he’s focused on taking the Wildcats deep into the NCAA Tournament. The freshman is capitalizing on his name, image and likeness before the start of the Big Dance, signing a slew of endorsement deals with top brands.

Just this week, the 6-foot-2 guard joined marketing campaigns with the clothing brand SKIMS and NerdWallet, a personal finance company. The top-20 recruit in the 2023 class also signed with Topps this week and has done extensive work with Donatos and Lexington’s Paul Miller Ford throughout this season. He also has a partnership with the basketball fashion brand Crossover Culture and Shop GLD. He signed on with Naomi Osaka’s Kinlò suncare brand in 2022.

Through the deal with NerdWallet, which he starred in with USC star Juju Watkins, he is “contractually obligated to commit to a NerdWallet smart money decision as a part of the deal.” He’s opted to consult with a certified financial planner/advisor about the use of his funds to fulfill that aspect of the deal.

Dillingham also signed with Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS, starring in a national marketing campaign with five other college basketball stars. It’s one of the most star-studded NIL activations ahead of the Big Dance, also featuring Arizona’s Caleb Love, UConn’s Donovan Clingan, Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson, Duke’s Jared McCain and North Carolina’s Paxson Wojcik.

Kentucky star’s surging On3 NIL Valuation

The recent success with NIL deals has seen Rob Dillingham’s On3 NIL Valuation surge to $1 million. The valuation is No. 4 in the college basketball NIL rankings and No. 22 in the On3 NIL 100, 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 only ranks behind Bronny James, Hansel Enmanuel and Jared McCain in college basketball.

The Kentucky star’s valuation is calculated by combining Roster Value and personal NIL. 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. NIL in an athlete’s name, image and likeness and the value it could bring to regional and national brands outside of the scope of NIL collectives.

Dillingham’s roster value is $461,000 while his personal NIL value sits at $578,000. His more than 977,000 social media followers helps fuel his personal NIL value. The guard is represented in NIL and marketing dealings by Nate Conley of Court XIV. Over the past 10 weeks, Dillingham has seen his valuation climb $402,000.

Rob Dillingham primed to be March Madness star

The third-seeded Wildcats open tournament play on Thursday night against No. 14 seed Oakland in the South Region. Dillingham is averaging 15.4 points and 3.9 rebounds but has the potential to become one of March’s biggest stars. Even though he has come off the bench for most of the year, he’s projected to be a top-five pick come June.

March Madness provides the platform for Rob Dillingham to catapult himself to No. 1 pick status. He’s viewed as one of the top players in the South Region of the bracket and is one of the best offensive weapons in college basketball.

Recently named the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year, if Dillingham can lead Kentucky on a tournament run brands will be lining up to work with him. He has the ability to take over games. And his self-confidence is not a problem, a perfect recipe to become a hero in March.

Kentucky coach John Calipari knows he can coach him up and Dillingham will deliver on the floor.

“He is another one that is living in the gym,” Calipari recently said. “Even if he is playing and not making shots, he is mad at himself but he doesn’t stop playing. He is always going to play.

“I take him out because he gets foul and then I put him back in and he heats up. He lets me coach and he plays. If you are an amateur you cop an attitude and have body language and go (back) in (the game) and if you do not play well who do you blame – the coach. He is being professional and just playing while I coach.”