WATCH: Jacob Toppin, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander team up in AT&T's March Madness commercial
This is what NIL is all about, folks.
During the opening game of the NCAA Tournament’s First Four on Tuesday night between Southeast Missouri State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, you might have noticed a couple of familiar faces pop up during a commercial break. As part of a new name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal with the popular cellular carrier AT&T, Kentucky senior forward Jacob Toppin and former Wildcat star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were featured in the company’s latest March Madness ad.
In the commercial, AT&T spokesperson Lily is sitting in a room next to the Kentucky mascot and Toppin while toying with their phones. The advertisement plays on the “one-and-done” tagline that head coach John Calipari has adopted since his arrival in Lexington, but is centered around phone trade-ins instead of going to the NBA. Gilgeous-Alexander makes a brief cameo, too.
All in all, it’s pretty cool to see a current Wildcat getting some national airtime. In this new NIL era, it certainly won’t be the last time something like this happens, either. You can watch the full clip below.
Toppin and AT&T originally reached a NIL agreement back in February. Additionally, Kentucky freshman Chris Livingston agreed to a deal with Beats by Dre where he handed out a set of Beats headphones to the entire Kentucky team earlier this month.
Kentucky also signed a team NIL deal with Morgan & Morgan, America’s largest injury firm and longtime NIL partner of UK Athletics, which was announced late last month. The partnership includes new digital billboards, TV commercials, and digital advertisements across social media and YouTube.
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