Oregon commits Jackson Shelstad, Sofia Bell sign with Portland Gear

Jackson Shelstad and Sofia Bell have made Beaver State history.

The two Oregon basketball commits have inked deals with Portland Gear, becoming some of the first high school student-athletes to sign NIL contracts in the state’s history. The Oregon School Activities Association voted earlier this month to approve Name, Image and Likeness guidelines. With the move, Oregon became the 19th state to allow high schoolers to monetize their NIL.

“Portland Gear is proud to announce the first-ever endorsement deal with high school athletes in the history of Oregon,” the clothing brand wrote on its Instagram page. “… This past week it went into law that Oregon High School student-athletes could sign NIL deals and we want to lead off with a bang and make history by being the first!”

The clothing company has signed two athletes who are not going anywhere anytime soon. Both will be playing their college ball in Eugene, Oregon.

A four-star recruit, Shelstad is the top-ranked prospect coming out of Oregon in the 2023 class. The top-100 player from West Linn High School averaged 27 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists this past season. He’s from the school former Oregon star Payton Pritchard attended.

Bell, the daughter of Greg Bell, who played for the Oregon men’s basketball program in the mid-1980s, is a top-30 recruit in the 2023 class. The combo guard had her pick of schools, with offers from Cal, Gonzaga, Notre Dame and USC.

Portland Gear did not announce any terms of the agreement, but Shelstad and Bell will continue to appear in social media ads for the brand.

Growing list of states allow NIL at high school level

The move in Oregon follows the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, which also passed NIL rules this month. Additionally, the District of Columbia State Athletic Association recently gave the green light to NIL.

Oregon, Oklahoma and the District of Columbia joined Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota and Utah by changing their bylaws in 2022 to allow NIL on the high school level. It’s also allowed in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Kansas, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York.

Not every state high school athletic association is moving toward acceptance of NIL, though. Many Southeastern states – specifically Texas, Georgia and Florida – still have not moved on NIL changes at the high school level. Some NIL experts have noticed that the Southeastern states – where many on the college level pushed the NCAA to remove its NIL prohibition – are falling behind other parts of the country from an acceptance standpoint.

Oregon is quickly becoming the norm, while states in the Southeast fall behind. More and more athletes like Jackson Shelstad and Sofia Bell will find NIL opportunities.