NIL has modified many issues for faculty athletes, and Duke’s Cooper Flag — the nation’s prime 2024 recruit and the participant many count on to be the No. 1 total decide within the subsequent NBA Draft — is already taking benefit.
It is a massive second too for faculty hoopers. Flagg introduced in an announcement that he has signed a partnership with Gatorade. He turned the primary males’s school basketball participant to signal an NIL take care of the long-lasting sports activities drink model.
“This has been a giant yr for me on and off the court docket, and Gatorade has been there the entire manner,” Flagg said in a statement, in response to On3. “From being named the Gatorade Greatest Male Participant of the Yr to now formally becoming a member of the workforce, it’s been surreal to have my title talked about with among the largest names in basketball. The Gatorade roster is iconic, and I’m excited to work with them as I take this subsequent step.”
Though Flagg is the primary males’s school basketball participant to be endorsed by Gatorade, the model does have partnerships with a number of high-profile school athletes. That record contains USC’s Juju Watkins, Paige Bueckers from UConn and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.
“I really feel actually blessed and honored for the chance that has been given to me. I do know for me, particularly, I’ve at all times drank Gatorade. Me and my brothers rising up, our mother would come again from the grocery retailer with a brand new case of Gatorade a pair instances per week. That sort of connection makes it imply somewhat bit extra,” Flagg said in an interview with Sports activities Illustrated.
Now that he has the endorsement, he has to now go show it on the court docket on the school degree. Few, if any, are betting towards Flagg, although. He was the Gatorade Nationwide Participant of the Yr, Nationwide Participant of the Yr and a McDonald’s All-American as a senior in highschool as he averaged 16.5 factors, 7.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and a pair of.7 blocks per recreation as he led his highschool to an ideal document and a nationwide championship.
