Duke Blue Devils star Jared McCain has had a huge social media presence since his high school days at Centennial High, California.
The eclectic McCain recently showed off latest his NIL deal with American footwear giant Crocs. The company is worth $9.44 billion as per Yahoo Finance. The five-star recruit sprinkled links to the company's website with a personal promotion code attached.
Jared McCain, the Duke NIL deal king
Even before he joined Duke, as a senior at Centennial High, Southern California, Jared McCain was already signing name, image and likeness deals before most college student-athletes. His first major NIL deals were with Crocs and Lemon Perfect.
When he signed a lucrative NIL deal with Champs Sports, the 6-foot-3 guard gave an interview to The Times explaining how he chooses which deals to take.
“Certain brands, for Crocs and Champs, it all falls into my personality,” McCain told The Times. “[Lemon] Perfect — bright, fun personality. Crocs, same thing, Champs the basketball side of it.”
During an interview with Boardroom, the $1 million NIL-valued McCain (as per On3) explained how much he was looking forward to using the platform he would get with the Duke Blue Devils to build his brand further.
"That platform at Duke is unmatched," McCain said. "I’m just excited to get out there, compete, and see all the stuff off the court that they can help me out with to help me build my brand off the court. I’m super excited to get out to Duke. I can’t wait."
McCain revealed how it was finding out that he was the face of Champs Sports when he first signed an NIL deal with them.
"When I walked into a store and I saw myself for the first time? It’s awesome. It’s an experience that you never really think you’ll get, but it was amazing to see it, and they’re amazing to work with," McCain said.
"They always comply with everything I need, whether it’s the scheduling and stuff like that with all these tournaments. But yeah, it’s been amazing working with them."
At the end of the interview, the marketable Duke star indicated just how far he had come with the NIL deals with a comment about how he used to get his allowances.
"It’s funny, because I used to take out the trash for $10 a week," McCain said. "When these deals started coming in, I kind of got a little busy and I kind of stopped that a little bit. So, I stopped taking out the trash for $10 a week."
If he ends up being a one-and-done and an NBA draft lottery pick as is being projected, Jared McCain's rise will have come full circle, from taking out the trash for pocket money to being an NBA rookie.
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