Nike Making Big Moves In NIL Space

College athletics are truly being shaped by different NIL deals. You know that’s the case when mega-brand Nike is in the mix.

When name, image and likeness deals first started being discussed, it felt like small potatoes in a lot of ways. Maybe the local restaurant will pay the starting quarterback to make an appearance to bring in some customers on a slow day. Perhaps the popular senior will pop into a clothing store and sign some autographs for a few hours. Maybe a big time scorer shows up at a local hospital event for some needed publicity. All of these things are taking place, but some of the deals are much, much bigger and very influential and powerful.

Nike, literally the global leader in footwear, jumping into the NIL space symbolizes the massive changes that have taken place since the summer of 2021. Over the past week, Nike rolled out a “new roster” of popular and visible basketball players to run with the NIL torch. The marketing campaign states that “this family isn’t for everyone” and highlights some of the best and brightest men and women at both the high school and collegiate levels. Nike, a multi-billion dollar corporation, with access to literally every athlete on the planet, has gone out there to actively select HIGH SCHOOLERS and UNPROVEN freshmen to carry their brand. With some help from Kevin Durant as a narrator, the campaign has been well received thus far.

All-Americans Paige Bueckers from UConn and Juju Watkins of USC are a part of the new Nike family, and have been for a while. Joining them are two of the top women’s high school players in the country, 2025 guard Jazzy Davidson, a USC commit, and 2026 guard Jersey Robinson. The top men’s player in the 2025 class, AJ Dybantsa, who remains uncommitted, is also part of the new campaign. Finally, the Rutgers super-freshman duo of Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are also mentioned by Durant in the new ad, which is very interesting as Rutgers is currently an Adiadas school. The fact that their deal with Nike seems to indicate which direction the school will go with a new apparel deal is an entirely different level of discussion, but further proves just how big NIL is in the world of college sports now and as things progress.

We’re not even going to dive into the world of AAU basketball and how shoe deals drive so much of that circuit, but make no mistake — big money, official deals, huge companies, NIL representatives and some of the most talented athletes on the planet are all mixed together in what will continue to reshape the landscape of college sports.