NIL Deals of the Week: LSU's Angel Reese stars in commercial for Starry

The top high school football prospects in the 2024 recruiting class descended on Nashville this week for the On3 NIL Elite Series presented by Mizuno.

The educational experience for athletes and their families provided plenty of glimpses of how NIL is being viewed at the high school level. Five-Star Plus+ defensive back KJ Bolden shared how he knew a school was lying about possible NIL deals.

And five-star linebacker Sammy Brown explained why he believes NIL is not as corrupt as many perceive it, too.

“Everybody thinks it’s corrupt, but it’s not,” he said. “There’s a lot of great people out there doing it for the right reasons. Doing it for the players. I think that’s the biggest misconception right now because you hear about the bad deals and the bad agents and all that. There’s a lot of good out there, too. Lot of people using it for the right reasons.”

As a reminder, feel free to submit info on your NIL deal to On3. You can send an email to [email protected] or reach out via DM or comment on Twitter to @On3NIL or @deals_nil. Direct messages are open, too, on the @On3NIL Instagram account.

Let’s get to the deals that highlighted this week in NIL.

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LSU’s Angel Reese stars in commercial with Karl-Anthony Towns, Zion Williamson in NIL deal with Starry

Angel Reese is now using her “you can’t see me” gesture in commercials, thanks to name, image and likeness. The LSU women’s basketball player and social media influencer launched a new NIL partnership this week, promoting the soft drink Starry next to NBA players Karl-Anthony Towns and Zion Williamson.

Part of the brand’s “3IsGreaterThan2” campaign, the video released on Instagram features the three athletes chatting about Starry and 3-pointers.

“Better than a buzzer beater 3,” Reese reads off the can as she cracks it open.

“Angel, that my Starry!” Williamson responds.

Reese quickly shoots the New Orleans Pelicans star a look before throwing the “you can’t see me” motion at him. The video then moves to the history of the creation of the 3-point shoot. The ad transitions to a young actor impersonating Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray hitting a 3 in the driveway, then pans to Murray in an NBA arena.

The 6-foot-3 forward led LSU to its first national title back in April. In the final seconds of the championship game, Reese directed the “you can’t see me” movement at Iowa‘s Caitlin Clark. The move turned into a national story, but Reese has made it clear since then that there is no hate between the two college basketball stars.

Reese has the top-ranked women’s basketball On3 NIL Valuation, sitting at $1.4 million. Her NIL success isn’t slowing down, either. She agreed to an ambassador deal with the with hair care brand Mielle last week. And she is one of the first college athletes to appear in SI Swimsuit.

Nine South Carolina baseball players sign NIL deals with HeyDude

Park Avenue delivered another NIL deal to the South Carolina market, this time coinciding with the NCAA baseball tournament.

The South Carolina-focused sports marketing firm has faciliated a deal between HeyDude shoes and nine Gamecock baseball players. South Carolina opens the Columbia Regional on Friday against Central Connecticut. It is South Carolina’s third home regional over the last seven tournaments and its first top-16 seed since 2016.

This activation is part of a larger campaign featuring thousands of college athletes, which has been run and facilitated by Postgame.

First introduced in the summer of 2008, the slip-on loafer has seen its popularity soar in the last year. Acquired by Crocs in February 2022, the brand grew by 70% and generated roughly $1 billion in sales last year.

Michael Braswell, Dylan Brewer, Gavin Casas, Carson Hornung, Jonathan French, Cole Messina, Ethan Petry, Will Tippett and Braylen Wimmer have all inked NIL deals with HeyDude. South Carolina wide receiver Juice Wells has also agreed to a partnership with the popular Gen Z brand.

As part of the partnership, the group will be promoting the lightweight shoes across their social media channels. The athletes also shot a group video, which will be pushed out on social media.

South Carolina signee Nyckoles Harbor inks NIL deal with SuitShop

Nyckoles Harbor inked his second NIL deal of prom season. The South Carolina signee promoted SuitShop in an ad on his Instagram page on Monday afternoon. The five-star athlete in the class of 2023 announced a deal with Hugo Boss back in April.

Dressed up in a tuxedo from the brand for his dance, Harbor shared a number of pictures promoting SuitShop. Launched in 2016, the company aims to have affordable, size- and gender-inclusive suits. The brand has five showrooms across the country and has a women’s suit collection, along with classic tuxedos and eco stretch fabric outfits.

“Prom Vibrations! It’s just business as usual on this side,” Harbor wrote in his Instagram post. “Thank you for the threads SuitShop.”

Harbor is a high school graduate, now just weeks away from enrolling at South Carolina. But he did sign deals during his time at Archbishop Carroll in Washington, D.C. The capital district allows high schoolers to monetize their publicity rights. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound inked his first partnership with Champs Sports the day before his commitment back in February. The sportswear brand went behind-the-scenes with Harbor for the day.

Expected to spend most of his time at wide receiver, Harbor’s decision was one of the most followed commitments of the 2023 signing class. He made his announcement on National Signing Day on ESPN, picking the Gamecocks.

He has a a $311,000 On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks in the top 25 of On3’s high school football NIL rankings. 

Michigan TE Colston Loveland releases limited-edition NIL cards

Michigan sophomore tight end Colston Loveland released limited-edition, officially licensed trading cards this week through The M Den using his NIL rights.

There will be 90 “Blue Lightning” trading cards available for $50 each and 10 “Maize Lightning” trading cards available for $100 each. The trading cards feature Loveland in his Michigan uniform, along with his autograph and jersey number.

The M Den currently lists available trading cards for wide receivers Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson, linebacker Junior Colson and cornerback Mike Sainristil. Valiant Management facilitated the trading card series with The M Den. Former Michigan fullback Jared Wangler founded Valiant Management, which also runs Champions Circle, an NIL collective. Wangler established Champions Circle in June 2022 but the collective launched a website in April that offers subscription packages.

Loveland has an On3 NIL Valuation of $83,000.

Honorable Mention

• Clemson freshman defensive lineman and former five-star recruit Peter Woods announced his first partnership Wednesday night. Signing a deal with the Tiger-focused, non-profit NIL collective TigerImpact, Woods will be compensated for supporting and promoting Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Upstate.
• Miami EDGE Akheem Mesidor signed an NIL agreement with Canes Connection, a Hurricane-focused collective. Mesidor was an honorable mention All-ACC pick in 2022. Canes Connection continues to be the most active collective in the Miami market, signing deals with more than 20 football players.
• Illinois second-year defensive back Matthew Bailey and incoming Notre Dame freshman offensive lineman Charles Jagusah are giving back to the Quad Cities communities through an NIL partnership with the Moline Park District. The local alums are promoting a new flag football program and the parks and rec department in general through a series of commercials.
• Florida State running back Trey Benson earned second-team All-ACC honors last season, and he’s using his rising stardom to secure NIL opportunities. For example, Benson partnered with Surcheros Fresh Mex earlier this week. 
• LSU gymnast Aleah Finnegan announced an NIL agreement with Reign Body Fuel earlier this week. Finnegan has a large following of nearly 100,000 on social media.