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A young basketball star has made history over at Adidas. Huntington Prep School shooting guard Darryn Peterson has inked an NIL deal with the sportswear company — making the 16-year-old the first high school athlete to do so — according to On3. “I’m extremely proud to join an elite group of athletes with adidas,” Peterson shared in a statement, per On3. “I look forward to working with the team as I embark on this pivotal moment in my career.” Peterson, who is a five-star, No. 3 prospect in the U.S. for the class of 2025, per On3, has joined fellow student-athletes Michael Penix Jr. and Rome Odunze in the Adidas roster. As previously reported by AFROTECH, in October 2023, the Washington Huskies players became Adidas’ first NIL football athletes. “Darryn is an all-star athlete and at such a young age embodies what adidas Basketball is all about,” Eric Wise, global general manager of Adidas Basketball, said. “We cannot wait to see what the future holds and welcome him into the 3 Stripe family.” Prior to joining Huntington Prep School’s basketball team in Huntington, VA, Peterson played for Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (CVCA) in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. A significant factor behind the transfer was that West Virginia was a state where he could leverage NIL deals, per On3. “We don’t have NIL deals in Ohio,” CVCA coach Matt Futch said. “That was a lot in the reasoning and decision-making that they had to go into making this decision. You gotta put yourself in a position as a young person to take advantage of that. That can be life changing. That played a major role in this decision because Ohio does not have NIL.” As of this writing, Peterson’s ON3 NIL valuation stands at $269,000. What’s more, he ranks at No. 22 on its high school basketball NIL rank. As previously shared by AFROTECH, On3 takes performance, influence, and exposure into consideration for NIL valuations.
A social-media post like that would have been odd coming from an amateur athlete like Caleb Williams just a few years ago. It might even have sparked an investigation. But the University of Southern California quarterback, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, won’t have to wait until April’s National Football League draft to be a millionaire. He already is, thanks to commercial endorsements for companies like Keurig Dr Pepper, United Airlines and Wendy’s.
And Williams easily could get out-earned by his one-time backup, Malachi Nelson, who completed just one pass at USC before announcing his intention to transfer this month. While still a high school junior, Nelson drove to algebra class in his $90,000 Mercedes and told Sports Illustrated in 2022 that he expected to earn nearly $1 million before even suiting up at USC.
Most college football fans are aware by now that the NCAA is investigating the Tennessee Vols due to quarterback Nico Iamaleava's NIL deal that was signed way back in early 2022.
The smoking gun in the NCAA's investigation appears to be a flight on a private jet to Knoxville that was provided by a collective.
Tennessee athletic director Danny White released a statement last week that stated that the NCAA was unable to find any violations in UT's NIL dealings and as a result, they're going after the Vols for that private jet ride that took place before collectives were considered boosters. "After reviewing thousands of Tennessee coach and personnel phone records, NCAA investigators didn't find a single NIL violation, so they moved the goalpost to fit a predetermined outcome," wrote White. "They are stating that the nebulous, contradictory NIL guidelines (written by the NCAA not the membership) don't matter and applying the old booster bylaws to collectives. If that's the case, then 100% of the major programs in college athletics have significant violations."
While the NCAA's witch hunt in Knoxville continues, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, who reportedly wanted $4 million to return to Athens for the 2024 season (isn't that called pay for play?), reportedly recently bought a $300k Lamborghini.
A Tennessee law that will match a lawsuit filed by the state against the NCAA has gone into effect. Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill into law and now Tennessee law allows prospective students to hire an agent and eliminates fair market value limitations on athlete pay. Senate Bill 709 also prevents athletes from suing coaches over playing time and impeding their potential earning power due to coaching decisions. The bill comes after Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office received a preliminary injunction against the NCAA and its NIL rules in February on claims that the NCAA rules limitations violate federal antitrust law by limiting athlete compensation. U.S. District Judge Clifton L. Corker also restricted the NCAA from enforcing its rules of restitution related to NIL activities until a final ruling. “While the NCAA permits student-athletes to profit from their NIL, it fails to show how the timing of when a student-athlete enters such an agreement would destroy the goal of preserving amateurism,” Corker wrote. Florida, New York and the District of Columbia recently joined the lawsuit.
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