5-star recruit Kiyomi McMiller discusses NIL deal with Jordan Brand

Life Center Academy (Burlington, N.J.) point guard and soon-to-be rising high school senior Kiyomi McMiller is nearing the end of a nearly 20-minute interview regarding the historic name, image and likeness partnership she signed with Jordan Brand – the company’s first with a high school athlete – when she has one more story to tell about the NIL deal in response to one final question.

Anything else that I have not asked about that you think is important as part of your story?

McMiller, who ESPN rates as a five-star prospect and No. 7 overall in the 2024 recruiting class, soon lights up – quite apparent based on her tone – although not immediately.

“Uh, there’s one thing that I found out,” she said, slowly, as her excitement built. “It was like, I don’t know how long ago, but with me being picked to the brand, I found out that Michael Jordan – he has to sign off on all the athletes. Like, he had to watch (me). It was so cool.”

McMiller is really getting excited now.

“He has to watch film on every single athlete and be like, ‘Ok, they can be a part of the brand,'” McMiller said. “So, I was like sitting there, thinking, like, ‘The best player of all time has watched me play.'”

Her voice trails off in awe. She’s quiet for a brief moment, then she laughs giddily.

“That is crazy,” she said.

NIL deal with Jordan Brand: ‘Doesn’t impact my recruitment’

Apparel companies, particularly those that manufacture athletic shoes, are inherently tied to high-profile professional sports franchises, college athletic departments, competitive youth leagues and star athletes across all of those levels. In basketball, there have long been presumed connections when an elite prospect’s AAU team and subsequent university have the same apparel sponsor.

As the second year of the NCAA’s NIL era nears its end, the largest apparel brands, such as adidas, Jordan Brand and Nike, have maintained a selective, albeit slightly expanded presence in the NIL landscape. UCLA guard Kiki Rice signed an NIL deal with Jordan Brand last fall, becoming the first college athlete to sign with the company.

There’s still room for notable firsts, such as McMiller being the first high school athlete to sign with Jordan Brand.

She insists her relationship with Jordan Brand won’t impact her ultimate college decision.

“It doesn’t impact my recruitment very much,” she said. “I’m open to all schools.”

Jordan Brand has entered into apparel partnerships with schools such as Florida, Houston, Howard, Michigan, Norfolk State, North Carolina, Oklahoma and UCLA.

McMiller was ‘right behind LSU’s bench’ during title game

For a major apparel company, part of the value proposition of sponsoring an AAU team or signing an NIL deal with a prep or college athlete is to develop a relationship with a promising athlete before he or she turns pro or becomes a household name.

Kiyomi McMiller has the potential to reach that status in women’s basketball, especially following the national championship game between LSU and Iowa that averaged 9.9 million viewers.

“It’s really cool because I got to actually go,” McMiller said. “I was there, like right behind LSU’s bench. … It was a good game. I think it was really good for women’s basketball and after the game, you could hear – it was just like people talking about the game, like just left and right.

“Like there were dudes talking about Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark like a whole bunch and it’s like, ‘Oh, that is different’ because usually, dudes don’t really talk about the game like that a whole bunch. I think that was a really important game for everyone to see.”

When asked how she’ll promote Jordan Brand through the NIL deal, McMiller first said confidently and matter-of-factly, “Well, of course, I’ll play. That’s like the first thing. That’s the main thing.”

The 5-foot-7 point guard talks about creativity when describing her style of play. That’s what McMiller pointed to when asked what her value proposition was to Jordan Brand. She said when she steps on the court, she likes to put on a show.

“My biggest thing is being different,” she said. “How I play is not like everybody else.”

Michael Jordan’s daughter Jasmine reached out to McMiller

Jordan Brand announced the partnership with McMiller in February.

McMiller said Jasmine Jordan, who’s Michael Jordan’s daughter and a field representative for Jordan Brand, contacted her through Instagram. It was a fitting medium to connect, given the number of NIL deals that include social media activations, particularly on Instagram.

“She was telling me how she had watched me for like three years. And I was like, ‘I didn’t even know,'” McMiller said, laughing periodically as she retold the story. “She was watching me that whole time and I had no clue. So, that was something that really surprised me. I showed my parents because I didn’t think it was real. But I showed my parents and they were like, ‘Nope. It’s real.'”

McMiller credited her parents and her agents with background checks on prospective business partners. Divine Sports & Entertainment co-founders Ryan Williams-Jenkins and Michael DeSane negotiated the deal with Jordan Brand. At the end of the first year in the NCAA’s NIL era, college athletes in their twenties described relying on their parents and relatives to vet agents or act as their agents to assisting them with filing their taxes.

McMiller will promote Jordan Brand on social media, where she has roughly more than 58,000 followers on Instagram. She’ll also attend various events and meetings.

Her favorite pair of Jordans is the Air Jordan 11 Retro Midnight Navy.

“They’re like velvet,” she said. “They’re real nice and the Jordan (logo) is silver.”

When asked what she has learned regarding business or finances, McMiller described her realization that she is a brand unto herself.

“One thing I learned recently that I think is really important is that we have to remember that being a part of Jordan Brand, we’re also a brand within ourselves,” she said. “We have to remember to represent Jordan Brand but also make sure we’re representing ourselves.”

Williams-Jenkins said McMiller is passionate about recycling and helping individuals who experience homelessness, so Divine Sports & Entertainment helps identify brands that could help her make an impact in those areas.

Kiyomi McMiller has met WNBA stars, looks up to Chris Paul

Kiyomi McMiller recently attended a Jordan Brand retreat in Austin, Texas, where she met WNBA players Kia Nurse, Aerial Powers, Dana Evans, Crystal Dangerfield, Izzy Henderson and Jordin Canada.

McMiller points to Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul as a prominent basketball player she has seen partner with brands. She said her favorite commercials are the State Farm ads, where Paul also plays a fictional twin brother “Cliff Paul.” McMiller laughed as she said her father jokes with her younger siblings that Cliff Paul really exists.

Through her deal with Jordan Brand, McMiller will have the opportunity to participate in campaigns of her own.

“She appeals to a larger demographic,” Williams-Jenkins said. “Like some high school students may only appeal to high school but the way she plays, even the competition she’s played against, some of those players are already in college, some are in the WNBA and she’s played against them when she was really, really young and when she was much older.

“But the point is those players are still watching her game and they’re taking stuff away from her game and there’s men that watch a game and they’re engaging with her on socials. Like you talked about earlier, social being important. She’s able to reach a broader audience of people than most athletes kind of where she’s at.”

McMiller said she hopes to someday meet Michael Jordan, the namesake of the powerful brand with whom she partnered as a high school junior.

“I talk to his daughter a lot,” McMiller said. “She’s kind of like my mentor a little bit, and she’s the one that’s kind of walking me through everything. I love Jasmine. She’s someone that I can talk to all the time and any question that I ask her about anything, she’s always there to answer.”

As McMiller tells it, when Jordan was asked whether he approved of her signing with his brand, his answer was yes.