Kentucky players with the highest NIL valuations from On3

Kentucky has been known for its success as a men’s basketball program for years, but the Wildcats’ football program has also been on the come up over the past few years under head coach Mark Stoops. While UK is a big-name school that competes in the SEC, it’s no surprise when highly-touted athletes choose to take their talents to Lexington and suit up in blue and white.

With the Name, Image and Likeness era now in full-swing, On3 has created a way to quantify how valuable an athlete’s brand is. On Jan. 7, the first On3 NIL 100 dropped — featuring some big names from Kentucky in the Top 100.

The rankings feature high school and college athletes based on On3 NIL Valuation. Among them, three Kentucky athletes make the Top 100. Additionally, the rankings also show the change in each players’ valuation and how many social media followers they have.

The NIL 100: Highest ranked Kentucky players

25) PG Skyy Clark (Kentucky signee) – $313,000. The Class of 2022 point guard out of Montverde Academy in Nashville, Tenn. is a big-name, five-star recruit that signed with Kentucky over a number of offers from top-tier programs. Clark is ranked No. 14 among all 2022 basketball recruits in the On3 Consensus.

52) WR Wan’Dale Robinson – $174,000. Robinson put together a standout season for the Wildcats, catching 104 passes for 1,334 yards and seven touchdowns to help lead UK to a 10-win campaign. Robinson recently declared for the 2022 NFL Draft.

70) QB Will Levis – $146,000. Levis threw for 2,826 yards, 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his first season as Kentucky’s starting quarterback. The Penn State transfer also rushed for 376 yards and nine more touchdowns, and he’s announced his return to Lexington for the 2022 season.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Per Post Value, and the On3 NIL 100

The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.

The NIL valuation is comprised of a number of dynamic data points that focus on two primary factors – an athlete’s social media presence and their level of athletic performance.

A base valuation is generated from the number of followers on each social media platform an athlete has (Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok). Each platform is weighted differently based on the number of marketing dollars that brands and advertisers typically spend on each.

With a baseline established through their individual social platforms, an athlete may also receive various boosts or penalties based on the following factors:

• Engagement
  • Athletes are assessed on how much engagement their posts and stories generate. Athletes that consistently show high engagement rates will receive a boost while those with low engagement rates receive a minor penalty.

• Relative Social Media Strength
  • In order to maintain parity, athletes are not penalized for not having strong followings across all 3 social media platforms. However, a boost is applied for athletes with strong followings and engagement across all three platforms relative to their peer group.

• College Prestige
  • Each college is ranked from top to bottom, with athletes attending the top-ranked colleges receiving the highest boosts. High school athletes receive a partial boost once they commit to a college and receive 100% of the boost value once they are enrolled.
    The colleges are ranked on the following:
    • Team Ranking per sport
    • College TV Ratings
    • College Revenues from sports

• Individual Player Rankings
  • Utilizing On3’s rankings, an athlete’s recruiting or On300 ranking will give them a boost according to their ranking. Once an athlete is in college, the On300 player impact ranking is used instead of their recruiting ranking.

• Position
  • For college football only. The QB position is the highest-rated position, followed by skill positions – RB, WR, TE, CB, S, Edge. There are no boosts or penalties for the other positions in football. In basketball, there are no boosts for position.

• Gameday Performance
  • Athletes who excel on a particular game day will receive minor bonuses for their performance.
    The gameday boosters can be for the following:
    • Conference Players of the Week
    • National Players of the Week
    • Team Win (opposition strength is factored in)
    • Outstanding performances on gameday, especially in key games with large viewership

• Prestigious Achievements
  • Athletes nominated (or those in the running at earlier stages in the season) for awards such as the Heisman Trophy will receive a boost. As the odds change throughout the season for the leading contenders, so will the boost. The maximum points awarded for this boost are applied once the winner and finalists have been announced with the winner receiving the highest boost and the other finalist sharing the remaining points based on their final position.

• Legacy
  • Athletes who come from prestigious/ famous families will receive a boost. These boosts are usually applied to athletes who come from a family with national fame. An example of a legacy boost is Bronny James who is the son of Lebron James.

• Media
  • Athletes who appear in major publications or are highlighted in productions and special features on major networks will receive boosts or penalties based on the positivity or negativity of each article. This is not solely based on the number of articles or productions but rather the sentiment of the articles.

• Existing NIL Deals
  • As part of the valuation, deal flow is considered and athletes that are signing a large number of valuable contracts will indeed be boosted to reflect their success in the market. This is a relatively minor boost and the increase in the value of the athlete is not equal to the value of the deals they have signed. This is solely a marker to reflect an athlete’s ability to get deals signed and executed.