Why You Should Care About High School Athletes Earning NIL Money
Today’s guest columnist is labor and employment attorney Iciss Tillis.
The NIL policy is personal for me. I missed out on a lot of opportunities in the late ’90s when I was a high school basketball star and an All-American power forward at Duke University. Back then, players like me who went on to become first-round WNBA draft picks didn’t have control over our name, image and likeness until we turned pro. If the NIL policy existed when I was in school, I would have not only been able to monetize my own popularity as a top female basketball player from Oklahoma, but I also would have added to my overall NIL value because I am the daughter of the greatest heavyweight boxing champion, James “Quick” Tillis.
More from Sportico.com
NCAA Reform on Capitol Hill: 6 Questions on the Prospects of Passage
Kanye West Donda Debacle Divides a Kentucky Hoops Signee's Family
As I reflect on my so-called “amateur” career, there were coaches, schools and other entities that used my NIL, often in combination with my father’s NIL. Those entities were heavily compensated but were never obligated to pass me a dime. When I turned pro, I recall certain playing-card companies asking for permission to sell college trading cards of me, but without any royalties or payment to me because I “didn’t have enough value.”
The irony is that in 2021, I discovered that I was worth something.
In February of that year, I received a text message from a fan saying “I sure miss watching you play,” along with an action photo of me playing in Cameron Indoor Stadium. At the top of the photo was a header that read Gail Goestenkors: Transition Offense & Defense ‘Quick’ Hitters. When I clicked on the photo, I was directed to Amazon and discovered the photo was on the cover of an instructional $40 DVD box set, authored by Gail Goestenkors, who was Duke’s women’s basketball coach from 1992-2007. She was using, and profiting from, my name, image and likeness without telling me. Over the next few months, I researched the intellectual property issues at play and in May 2021, pursued my only legal remedy available—the immediate removal of my photo and reference to my father’s likeness. Both were promptly removed that same month.
Now that I’m an attorney, I’m in a position to help student athletes get the best NIL contracts for themselves and their institutions. It’s not only a professional passion, but like I said, it’s personal. I’ve enjoyed assisting celebrities and brands with NIL deals involving video gaming rights, merchandise licensing and influencer agreements, and I look forward to working with student athletes and schools in the future.
Since the NCAA rolled out its Interim NIL policy in July 2021, male and female student athletes have benefited from individual and team-wide endorsement deals with major brands. This has caused a tilt in the competitive balance in favor of high schools, universities and NCAA conferences sitting in NIL-friendly states, as institutions in these locales are able to retain and attract the best recruits. Given the positive impact of NIL at the collegiate level, and to avoid losing top-tier talent, the following states have decided to grant high school athletes the same NIL benefits as NCAA athletes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah and Washington.
In May of this year, California-based soccer players (and sisters) Alyssa and Gisele Thompson, who are committed to play for Stanford, became the first high-school athletes to secure an NIL deal with Nike—one that includes monetary compensation, which is notable given, historically, female athletes usually receive mere apparel under such agreements. Bronny James recently signed a deal with Nike valued at $10 million. Football players for St. John Bosco high school in California became the first group of high schoolers to land a team-wide NIL deal. The players have individual NIL agreements with KONGiQ Sports Performance and will receive compensation for posting personal experiences on their social media accounts using the KONGiQ Sports Performance System and the KONGiQ App. Peyton Coburn, a female golfer at Broken Arrow High School, just became the first high school athlete to receive an NIL deal in Oklahoma.
The kicker? Premier high school athletes who live in states that don’t allow NIL benefits may begin to transfer to private schools (which are not subject to state high school association rules) or relocate to states that allow NIL benefits. Therefore, public high schools and universities located in non-NIL states will lose their talent pipelines.
States that prohibit NIL deals should reconsider that decision before public schools become less competitive than private schools, which are not subject to the rules of state high school associations. Mikey Williams is one of many high school athletes who acted on this. Williams lives in North Carolina, which is a state whose high school association prohibits NIL deals. As a workaround, he plays for Vertical Academy of Lake Norman Christian High School, a private school not subject to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. Williams landed a multiyear endorsement deal with Puma while attending Vertical Academy, making him the first high school basketball player to sign a sneaker deal. In April 2022, Williams announced his plans to relocate to San Diego and play for San Ysidro High School for his senior year.
Universities in states that allow high school NIL activity may see an impact on their competitive advantage, because the state universities may have a better opportunity at attracting the best high school recruits from their own states. Take, for example, Jaden Nickens, a sophomore at Millwood High School in Oklahoma City, who is one of the top-ranked basketball and football players in the nation. Nickens was set to transfer at the end of this season to a California high school for future NIL opportunities. However, when the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association rolled out its new NIL policy, Nickens and his mother decided to remain in Oklahoma. The OSSA’s decision provides Oklahoma high schools a competitive advantage as more recruits like Jaden Nickens will opt to remain in or transfer to schools in the Sooner State.
Even though I wasn’t able to cash in with NIL, I’m happy that high school associations, the NCAA and most states are taking steps to enable student athletes to do so.
Iciss Tillis is a labor and employment attorney at Hall Estill law firm, where her practice involves assisting employers in workplace matters, including litigation, as well as preventive advice and counseling. Tillis is a former professional basketball player; she was a first-round WNBA draft pick by the Detroit Shock, then went on to play for the New York Liberty and LA Sparks.
