While a few big names get most of the attention, college basketball players across the country are seeking to monetize their names, images, and likenesses (NIL).
Those interested in intercollegiate athletics have read about how the big names in Division I basketball are cashing in on NIL. University of Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers signed with Gatorade. University of Kentucky’s TyTy Washington launched a nonprofit organization to share some of the wealth he’s quickly acquiring. Duke University’s men’s basketball team signed a deal with fast food chicken chain Bojangles.
Tyrone
“It wasn’t about the money for me, because this was my first opportunity to be recognized and do something like this,” says Amaya Tucker, a redshirt sophomore guard at Division II Winston-Salem State University. She inked a deal last summer with the Winston-Salem Dash, a minor league baseball team, promoting the team on her social media (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram).
For a hometown hero — Tucker grew up in Winston-Salem — the opportunity was a great fit.
Nuts and bolts
While NIL has been discussed and debated for years, the NCAA authorized it last summer in reaction to newly enacted state laws allowing student-athletes to monetize their NIL. One of the challenges around its implementation is that there is not a national law, so issues have come up as states have differing regulations, particularly around the use of school intellectual property.
