Four South Carolina football players sign season-long NIL deals with Pit Viper Sunglasses

When Mark Stoops mentioned Shane Beamer’s “stupid” sunglasses and dancing at 2022 SEC Media Days, the South Carolina football head coach did not forget. When his Gamecocks picked up the win in Lexington last October, Beamer made sure to have his sunglasses ready.

Now his players are getting in on the fun.

Four South Carolina football players have signed NIL agreements with Pit Viper Sunglasses. As part of a season-long campaign, the athletes will be posting pictures and videos across their social media platforms.

Xavier Legette, DK Joyner, Kai Kroeger and Nick Emmanwori are all participating in the campaign. The campaign was facilitated by Park Ave Sports, which is managed by Everett Sports Marketing. The Gamecock-focused sports marketing agency is funded through small dollar membership fees from the Carolina Rise collective.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Pit Viper Sunglasses,” Park Ave’s director of marketing Chaise Belt told On3. “This collaboration brings together the fearless spirit of University of South Carolina athletes with the bold and adventurous ethos of Pit Viper. It’s a match made in excitement.”

Pit Viper working with South Carolina quartet

Through two games this season, Legette has 15 catches for 296 yards and a touchdown. Viewed as one of the nation’s top wide receivers, he’s already outperformed his total receiving yards. The former three-star recruit has a $521,000 On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks in the top 70 of college football.

Now in his sixth year with the Gamecocks, Joyner has carried the ball 23 times this year for 65 yards and two touchdowns. After playing at receiver and quarterback for most of his career, he converted to running back this offseason. He has amassed more than 66,000 social media followers and a $92,000 On3 NIL Valuation.

A First-Team Freshman All-American a year ago, Emmanwori has missed most of the two games of the season dealing with a hamstring injury. Expected to be a starter when healthy, he tied for 15th in the SEC with 6.5 tackles per game and was credited with 62 solo stops, which was second in the SEC and the most among freshmen in the FBS.

Kroeger is in his senior year at South Carolina, averaging 46.7 yards per punt through two games. He averaged 46.1 a year ago, enough to land on some All-American lists.

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 and exposure.

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