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NIL Deals of the Week: Nyckoles Harbor signs with Champs Sports ahead of commitment

Nakos updated headshotby:Pete Nakos•02/02/23•

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Up until this week, not many highly-touted college football recruits had used their commitment platform as an NIL opportunity.

Nyckoles Harbor took advantage of his, though. The On3 Consensus five-star recruit announced a partnership with Champs Sports on Tuesday. A day later, he announced his commitment to South Carolina.

With Champs following him around on National Signing Day, it gave fans an inside look of his process. It also provided a major boost to his social media following. Because Washington, D.C., allows high schoolers to profit off their name, image and likeness, Harbor was able to turn a profit from his announcement.

As a reminder, feel free to submit info on your NIL deal to On3. You can send an email to [email protected] or reach out via DM or comment on Twitter to @On3NIL or @deals_nil. Direct messages are open, too, on the @On3NIL Instagram account.

Let’s get to the deals that highlighted this week in NIL.

Nyckoles Harbor signs with Champs Sports ahead of commitment

Champs Sports has been an aggressive brand in the NIL space, inking notable partnerships with Miami basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder, and Duke basketball commit Jared McCain.

And this week, the top-ranked player in Washington, D.C., had a chance to join forces with the sports retailer.

“Journey with me tomorrow as I celebrate my commitment day with Champs Sports,” he wrote on Twitter.

This is not Harbor’s first move in NIL, though. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound prospect signed up to have an NFT trading card through Prospex in early December. Prospex’s NIL platform connects fans and players through the digital sale of a playing card. On3 serves as a media partner for the platform.

The No. 21 player in the nation, according to the On3 Consensus, holds a $293,000 On3 NIL Valuation. The evaluation ranks No. 14 in high school football. His social media following has seen significant growth in the past few days, adding roughly 7,000 followers.

Cavinder twins sign with Raising Cane’s, Victoria’s Secret PINK

Haley and Hanna Cavinder transferred from Fresno State to Miami this past offseason. The move has elevated their brand on and off the floor.

The past week has been the best evidence of that. The twins announced a partnership with Raising Cane’s last Friday on TikTok. With the opening of a new location of the fast-food chain in Miami Beach, they stopped by to grab some food and a swag bag. They filmed the experience for their shared TikTok account that has 4.1 million followers. Since the video dropped on Friday, the post has been watched more than 154,000 times.

And on Wednesday, Haley and Hanna Cavinder announced an endorsement deal with Victoria’s Secret PINK ON. Both agreements were facilitated by Everett Sports Management, which represents the Cavinders in NIL. Sports and IP attorney Darren Heitner also assisted on the legal side.

Hanna currently holds a $833,000 On3 NIL Valuation, while Haley’s On3 NIL Valuation sits at $830,000. The twins sit at No. 24 and No. 25, respectively, in the On3 NIL 100. The rankings are the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

Brevin Galloway turns testicular injury into NIL opportunity

Fresh out of surgery last week, Brevin Galloway took to Twitter to explain his situation. The Clemson basketball player and former Boston College transfer had a testicular injury that would be keeping him sidelined for the foreseeable future.

“So this morning I went to lift,” Galloway said in the video. “I came back, took a nap, I woke up from my nap. My (testicles) and my (scrotum) exploded. Now, I go to the doctor, I have surgery, three hours later my (testicles) are back to the normal size. I don’t know what happened.”

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Working with Raymond Representation, which serves as his NIL representation, Galloway didn’t squander the moment. With a unique situation, he found a way to get a laugh out of it.

With a website already up and running, the Clemson guard decided to make some T-shirts. The first is a play on “The Nutty Professor” with Galloway over the words and a pile of acorns in the foreground. The other design shows him in a jersey with his name superimposed behind him. But across the chest of the jersey is “Ballsy.”

It’s a smart, lighthearted move from Galloway, who holds a $82,000 On3 NIL Valuation.

Mass Strategies helps Kansas basketball hawk mini jerseys

Mass St. Collective has teamed up with MiniJerzeys to facilitate NIL deals with almost every player on the Kansas men’s basketball roster, publicly announced on Tuesday. MiniJerzeys is a provider of custom athletic apparel and merchandise. They specialize in team wear, NIL merchandise and miniature sports jerseys.

Multiple KU basketball stars are now promoting the mini jerseys on social media as part of their agreement with MiniJerzeys. Jalen Wilson, who is one of the leading candidates for national player of the year, is one of the most public faces of the campaign. He is averaging 21.3 with 13 20-plus point games.

The full list of Kansas athletes involved in the deal:

While the deal with Kansas basketball is the latest notable partnership from the company, the Chicago-based MiniJerzeys also has NIL agreements with some major players from across the country.

Eighteen student-athletes at Alabama have NIL deals with MiniJerzeys, including Bryce Young, Ga’Quincy McKinstry and many of the school’s top softball players. The company also has deals in place to sell replica jerseys of student-athletes at Loyola Chicago, Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois.

Express expands NIL ambassador program, signs four college basketball players

Express quickly established itself as an active brand in the NIL market. The fashion retailer previously signed notable Ohio State players like quarterback C.J. Stroud and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Now the Columbus, Ohio, based company is expanding its NIL operations to the national level.

Moving away from the football space, Express announced the signing of men’s basketball players Jahvon Quinerly (Alabama), Justice Sueing (Ohio State), Keyonte George (Baylor) and Nick Smith (Arkansas) on Wednesday. The partnerships mark the first deal in the fashion industry for each athlete.

While the terms of the agreements were not disclosed, the deals go through the remainder of college basketball season. A social-focused campaign, the athletes will be featured on the brand’s social media channels. Express will also style each of their ambassadors in its spring 2023 catalog for their collegiate events and appearances for the remainder of the season.

While the focus for Express has been strictly on college football and basketball in the NCAA’s NIL era, the brand is not ruling out a move into women’s sports.

“We are exploring opportunities to work with more female student athletes and are always building and investing in our styling community and looking for like-minded partners that align with our brand purpose,” Express’ executive vice president and chief marketing officer Sara Tervo told Forbes. “As we look to connect with our customers, we maintain continuous dialogue and will evolve our community to best serve the needs of our customers.”

Honorable Mention