LSU WR commit Shelton Sampson Jr. signs fourth NIL deal

Shelton Sampson Jr. continues to add NIL deals to his portfolio.

The LSU four-star wide receiver commit has inked a deal with the apparel brand LouisianaRich, which is operated by two of his Catholic High School (Louisiana) teammates. Jacob and Joshua Johnson have signed Sampson to a NIL deal.

Marking a first-of-its-kind deal, the Johnsons and Sampson have decided to partner and create their own merchandise line. The apparel will be branded as “LouisianaRich x Sixx” merchandise, which pays homage to Sampson’s No. 6 jersey.

“Me and the Johnson twins grind on the football field every day. We’re working
hard to win another state championship,” Sampson said in a press release. “I’m looking forward to winning with them through the LouisianaRich x Sixx collaboration too.”

“Why not do it big”@louisianarich x @sampson_shelton pic.twitter.com/r8grcY7LcT

— LOUISIANARICH SPORTS (@louisianarich) August 30, 2022

The five-star wide receiver has now inked four NIL deals. He has two apparel lines, one with Elete Sports, and the other now with LouisianaRich. Sampson also serves as MatchPoint Connection’s NIL high school ambassador, and he signed on to a campaign with Louisiana-based cheeseburger slider franchise Smalls Sliders.

Because of his role with MatchPoint, Shelton Sampson Jr. helped his pair of teammates sign up for the app to help expand LouisianaRich’s NIL opportunities.

Becoming the face of high school NIL in Louisiana

Louisiana high school student-athletes are able to profit off their NIL, similar to how college athletes are able to, after a vote by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association in early April. States such as Florida, Texas and Georgia have prohibited student-athletes from participating in NIL.

Sampson is arguably the most high-profile Louisiana high school player to enter the NIL space. With the help of MatchPoint and the backing of his family, there’s also no rush to sign a load of contracts.

He has now inked four deals, all coming with Louisiana routes. Discovering what he wants to achieve takes precedence, followed by making sure he delivers a return on investment.

“I feel like if we build our brand the right way, then we should be able to benefit off that,” Sampson told On3 when asked if high schoolers should be allowed to utilize their NIL.

Sampson’s high school, Catholic, is also on board with his NIL activity. His athletic director, Ben DiPalma, has helped the family navigate NIL, specifically what is and isn’t legal in the state of Louisiana.

“I’m just really, really excited for the opportunity that he’s gonna have to hopefully be the face of this,” DiPalma said. “What we have to remember is he’s still a kid. So it comes to us, as the adults around him, to make sure that we really do our homework and make sure that he’s making the decisions that are best for him in the long run.”

Shelton Sampson Jr. cashing in on NIL potential

The LSU wide receiver commit holds an On3 NIL evaluation of $210,000, which ranks in the top 40 of all high school football NIL valuations.

With a little less than 12,000 social media followers, he has a per post value of $213.

The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. 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.

Sampson is ranked as the No. 5 receiver in the country, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. The On3 Consensus also ranks Sampson as the No. 3 recruit in Louisiana.