Ohio State's J.T. Tuimoloau sees On3 NIL Valuation spike following breakout performance

Ohio State patiently waited for J.T. Tuimoloau back in the 2021 cycle. The former five-star plus recruit held off on his commitment to the spring, eventually becoming one of the highest-ranked defensive commits in Buckeyes history.

He showed the country why Ohio State waited for his delayed commitment this past weekend in Happy Valley. The defensive lineman finished the top-15 matchup against Penn State with six tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Oh yeah, a touchdown on his second interception to close out the win, too.

It was the most dominant performance an Ohio State defensive lineman has produced since Chase Young‘s 2019 campaign. And it had major NIL implications.

Tuimoloau saw his On3 NIL Valuation more than double, jumping up to $305,000. He’s already won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and Walter Camp National Player of the Week honors. His valuation saw a 128% jump, putting him in the top 150 of the college football NIL rankings.

It could only be a start, though. On top of the valuation jump and awards, Tuimoloau’s social media accounts spiked thanks to the national attention. He’s added more than 3,000 on Twitter. But he made his money on Instagram, adding more than 10,000 followers. The defensive lineman now has more than 45,000 total followers, coming out to a projected $821 per-post value.

J.T. Tuimoloau’s growing NIL brand

While Saturday was a coming out party for the Ohio State star, Tuimoloau is not new to the Name, Image and Likeness space.

He signed on with the Cohesion Foundation back in August. The Ohio State-focused NIL collective has backing from Buckeyes greats Archie Griffin and Jack Nicklaus and serves as an official sponsor of the athletic department thanks to an agreement with Learfield.

Tuimoloau has been busy promoting new partnerships this fall, too. He inked an agreement with The View on Fifth, an apartment complex in Columbus. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound EDGE is also driving around Range Rover, courtesy of Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet.

The deals could only just be starting to ramp up. In the new world of Name, Image and Likeness, social media followers equal dollar signs. Social media activations took up 52.6% of all NIL deals done on Opendorse through September.

Athletes are viewed as social media influencers, and Tuimoloau has a following to back it up. He’s also only a sophomore, meaning he has to return to Ohio State for at least one more season before leaving for the NFL. Saturday’s performance made him a well-known name among Buckeyes fans, and that’s something businesses will be clamoring to have access to.

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
+ 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.