Top five On3 NIL Valuations in UConn-San Diego State men's NCAA title game

Year 2 of NIL and March Madness will come to a close Monday night in Houston, with either UConn or San Diego State leaving with the national title.

Plenty of brands made their moves in the NIL space in the last few weeks, from Continental Tire to Goldman Sachs to Pringles. San Diego State’s Lamont Butler, who hit the game-winning shot Saturday night, has a custom T-shirt throught the NIL Store and a deal with Urban Outfitters.

This year’s Final Four showed the multitude of ways to build a college basketball roster. UConn has recruited well, boasting some legitimate NBA talent. San Diego State has its share of transfers but the Aztecs are also old. Sure, NIL money from John Ruiz helped Miami, but the Hurricanes put together quite the run. Florida Atlantic appeared to be an anomaly, with three starters unranked coming out of high school.

On3 is breaking down the top five On3 NIL Valuations ahead of the men’s national title game tips at 9:20 p.m. ET on CBS.

UConn forward Adama Sanogo

On3 NIL Valuation: $773,000
Social Media Followers: 8,800

UConn’s leading scorer and rebounder, Adama Sanogo was born in Mali. He grew up playing soccer until he picked up basketball in 2014. One of the top players in college basketball this year, he earned first-team Big East and AP All-American honorable mention honors. For all the on-court success, he is not able to monetize his name, image and likeness. The standard F-1 visa for students places limits on the types of income those visa holders can earn. While one known college athlete has been able to secure an O-1 visa as an individual with “extraordinary ability or achievement” for NIL-related purposes, most athletes have been forced to shoot content for deals abroad. Sanogo is arguably most valuable right now, however, as one of the most high-profile players in the NCAA Tournament.

U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, both from Connecticut, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas nearly two weeks ago asking for DHS to provide guidance and updated regulations to allow international athletes to exercise their NIL rights.

UConn shoooting guard Jordan Hawkins

On3 NIL Valuation: $375,000
Social Media Followers: 14,400

Entering this season, Jordan Hawkins was viewed by scouts as a possible first-round draft pick after a strong freshman season. The last three weeks have produced plenty of tape for NBA front offices to look at. The UConn shooting guard missed practice leading up to the Final Four game with Miami due to a stomach bug but returned and still had 13 points and three rebounds in the win. The team’s second leading scorer, he is averaging 16.2 points and shooting more than 38 percent from beyond the arc. He’s also a strong ball handler who is shooting 88 percent from the free-throw line. Hawkins has also seen his social media following spike in the past couple weeks, jumping up to more than 13,000 followers on Instagram. He has signed NIL deals with Dunkin’ and Intuit TurboTax in recent weeks and is represented by Creative Artists Agency.

San Diego State small forward Matt Bradley

On3 NIL Valuation: $327,000
Social Media Followers: 15,500

A top-100 prospect in the nation when he signed with Cal in the 2018 recruiting class, Matt Bradley spent three seasons with in the Pac-12. He made the transfer to San Diego State ahead of the 2021-22 season and immediately made an impact. The 2022 Mountain West Conference Newcomer of the Year now has helped the Aztecs reach the national championship game. The team’s leading scorer averaging 12.7 points per game, San Diego State has been one of the best teams in the nation this season. Bradley and the Aztecs dropped just three league games before breezing through the conference tournament.

After shooting just 1 of 10 from 3-point range in the tourney ahead of the Final Four, the small forward was 4 of 8 from beyond the arc against Florida Atlantic. If he can continue the hot streak, it will be a big win for the Aztecs on Monday night.

San Diego State guard Darrion Trammell

On3 NIL Valuation: $89,000
Social Media Followers: 6,500

Darrion Trammell proved to be one of the best players in the Western Athletic Conference the previous two seasons. After playing one season at City College of San Francisco, one of the top junior college programs in the country, the guard enrolled at Seattle University. He was the league’s leading scorer and leader in steal in back-to-back seasons. Ahead of this season, Trammell made the decision to move up to the Mountain West. He’s been a key piece of San Diego State’s run, averaging 11.2 points and 3.2 rebounds through the tournament. Trammell has also come up big when the Aztecs needed to deliver an answer. He had 21 points in the Sweet 16 upset of No. 1 seed Alabama. San Diego State may need him to answer the call Monday night.

UConn shooting guard Andre Jackson

On3 NIL Valuation: $54,000
Social Media Followers: 67,000

The most-followed member of UConn’s Final Four squad on social media, Andre Jackson has also delivered on the court for the Huskies. A consistent starter this season, the guard is averaging 4.7 assists per game entering Monday night. In the tournament, he’s dished out seven assists a game. A top-50 national recruit in the 2020 class, the team captain is also averaging 6.8 points and 6.3 rebounds. Jackson has been active in the NIL space, too, recently signing on with Postgame’s Urban Outfitters campaign.

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 and exposure.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value

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 On3 NIL Valuation accounts for an athlete’s roster value and brand value. Roster value is the value an athlete has by being a member of his or her team at his or her school, which factors into the role of NIL collectives. Brand value factors in an athlete’s personal brand and the value it could bring to regional and national brands outside of the scope of NIL collectives.

The On3 NIL Valuation is publicly available. Performance, Influence, and Exposure ratings along with the athlete’s personal Brand Value Index and Roster Value Index are available only to the athlete in the “Athlete Verified” private dashboard on the On3 Athlete Network.