North Carolina DB Tony Grimes signs NIL deal with ScienceLogic

North Carolina defensive back Tony Grimes announced Monday he signed an NIL deal with ScienceLogic, a company that offers artificial intelligence for IT operations, or AIOps.

“Our partnership uncovers the alignment between #IT & sports,” Grimes wrote in a tweet.

I’m thrilled to share I’ve partnered with #AIOps industry leader, @ScienceLogic! Our partnership uncovers the alignment between #IT & sports. Check out my interview with ScienceLogic’s CEO, @dave_f_link! #NIL pic.twitter.com/vAwEuG6edp

— Tony Grimes (@757EliteDB) September 26, 2022

Grimes, a junior, has 12 tackles, three pass breakups and one forced fumble in four games this season. As a sophomore, he was an All-ACC Honorable Mention selection.

Grimes is a former five-star recruit in the 2020 recruiting class, according to the On3 Consensus. He ranked as the top recruit in Virginia, the No. 3 cornerback and the No. 19 prospect overall.

Announcement included interview

As part of Grimes’ announcement, he shared a clip from an interview with ScienceLogic CEO Dave Link.

“The spirit of your, your tenacity, your determination, where do you think that comes from?” Link asked. “Is that just a natural gift or parenting or competitiveness? Where does that come from?”

Grimes credited his mother, his friends and his childhood.

“I want to say just growing up,” Grimes said. “Just growing up around my friends who I be with. My friends push me to that competitiveness. I always have friends around me that we either play sports or we play a game, we play like Marco Polo or something like that…and we always compete. So I just think it’s just hanging out with the guys I hang around with and also my mom.

“My mom was an athlete herself so she’s very driven. She’s very motivated. She’s got that spice about her. No matter what, my mom’s a hard worker. If something knocks her down, she’s going to get back up and she’s going to work hard so that just pushes me to do the same thing as well.”

Tony Grimes’ On3 NIL Valuation

With more than 18,000 Instagram followers and more than 11,000 Twitter followers, Grimes has an On3 NIL Valuation of $63,000. That ranks No. 808 among current college football players, as of Sept. 26.

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, including an athlete’s performance, influence and 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.

The athletes with the highest On3 NIL Valuations are featured in the On3 NIL 100. The On3 NIL Valuation is the first of its kind and the defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by market valuation.