$1.1M NIL-valued Shilo Sanders' earnings, bankruptcy claims under scanner amid alleged $11.89M lawsuit

Deion Sanders' son, Shilo Sanders, is one of the most popular faces in the college football world. The 24-year-old's popularity has helped him collaborate with several world-renowned brands like Nike, The North Face, and Mercedez-Benz.

However, Westword has reported that the Buffaloes safety filed a bankruptcy proceeding in order to avoid a Texas court's $11.89 million judgment in favor of a former high school security guard.

Sanders disclosed only $325,477 worth of assets to his name despite having a NIL valuation of $1.1 million (according to On3 Sports). The filing raises questions about his NIL earnings.

In 2015, John Darjean, a security guard at Focus Academies in Dallas, Texas, filed a lawsuit against Shilo. As per Westword, the safety allegedly attacked Darjean after he was reprimanded for his disruptive behavior during class.

The case went to trial in 2022, but Shilo did not appear. The court found Shilo responsible for the assault and battery and ordered him to pay $11.89 million to Darjean. As per Darjean's attorney, the amount was not paid.

Shilo Sanders then declared bankruptcy in October 2023 but the updated filing in December 2023 showed that the college athlete only has $320,477 to his name. The amount is mainly from the Mercedes car he drives and from a Robin Hood investing account.

Information in Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy claim shows inconsistencies

Darjean's filings suggest that Shilo's financial disclosure does not offer a comprehensive overview of his assets. That is because he is one of the top-earning college athletes due to his name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals.

The October 2023 disclosure included mention of $75,000 worth of necklaces. However, they were not mentioned in the December disclosure. Darjean's filings further argue that Shilo's expensive possessions were not documented. The filing reads:

“Contrary to the schedules, Shilo has admitted acquiring vast amounts of high-end and expensive clothing. For example, on his YouTube Channel posted on May 4, 2023, he states, ‘Alright we at the Louis (Vuitton) Store I am trying to spend at least $50,00.00 today.’”

The filings also suggest that Shilo Sanders did not record the revenue streams of two LLCs called Big 21 and SS21 in the bankruptcy filings. The omission of Shilo's true NIL/public value was also a concern in Darjean's filings.

“The entire underpinning of the NIL concept is the value of the individual athlete, but Shilo chose not only to hide the value of the entire NIL endeavor with the ‘unknown' listings for the two of the entities that were disclosed (Big 21 LLC and/or SS21 LLC), but Shilo intentionally failed to identify and disclose his individual NIL property interest anywhere in the schedules.”

In response, Shilo Sanders agreed that he did not disclose these instances but denied the claims of improperly disclosing his assets.

Bankruptcy Judge Michael Romero ordered the court clerk to seal several documents, including Darjean's complaint from January 29, two motions linked to a request to strike Darjean's jury demands, and a motion for summary judgment filed by Shilo Sanders.