COLUMN: Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey Nike deals open door for greater empowerment for college athletes
This season, Rutgers men's basketball freshman guard Dylan Harper and freshman forward Ace Bailey have put the Scarlet Knights (2-0, 0-0) on the map. The freshmen duo are the highest-rated recruits to join the program, spawning ample media attention in Piscataway.
Bailey has yet to feature in an official game due to injury, but fans have been able to see what he is capable of. He scored 25 points in an exhibition match against St. John's wearing Nike shoes.
Harper has established an immediate presence at Jersey Mike's Arena on Livingston campus, becoming the first Rutgers freshman to score more than 20 points in consecutive games since Corey Sanders in 2016. Harper is lighting up the court while also donning Nike basketball shoes. His shoes used in his debut against Wagner are even being implemented by Topps into a 1 of 1 trading card.
The star duo each released Instagram posts narrated by NBA star Kevin Durant, a fellow Nike athlete, making their sponsorships official. Nike also posted from its own account.
The main issue is that while Harper and Bailey are sponsored by Nike, Rutgers has been an Adidas-sponsored school, and players must adhere to the school's sponsored supplier.
This is common in collegiate athletics, in which athletes are required to wear a school's sponsored uniform despite being sponsored by a different brand. Take Duke freshman forward Cooper Flagg, for example. Flagg signed a lucrative shoe contract with New Balance in 2024 but is required to wear Duke's sponsored brand of Nike shoes.
This is different on a professional level, where athletes may choose to wear whatever shoe they're sponsored by. Warriors guard Stephen Curry wears his signature Under Armour shoes while wearing a Nike-sponsored Golden State jersey. Despite wearing a Nike jersey, the Dodgers pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is sponsored by New Balance.
But in college, the NCAA gives power to the schools over its athletes.
What makes this a unique case for Harper and Bailey is that while Adidas still makes Rutgers' uniforms, they have been out of contract since the 2022-2023 season. This may be a reason why Harper and Bailey are permitted to wear Nike shoes in the first place. It also might suggest that Rutgers will return to Nike as its sponsor soon. The Knights were sponsored by Nike for five years before switching to Adidas in 2017.
So, what does this mean in the world of NIL? In a rapidly changing landscape that now sees athletes profit off their name, image and likeness, they are able to create a personal brand through their profile. Notable collegiate athletes like Shedeur Sanders, Arch Manning and Travis Hunter, have all made millions of dollars in sponsorships before stepping on a professional field.
This movement could have the potential to change the way college athletes and sponsors view their branding strategies. NIL could open the door for players to gain more power over their schools. Earlier this year, members of the Dartmouth basketball team joined an employers union to potentially make them paid employed by their program.
Companies like Under Armour or New Balance might be able to shell out more money for their athletes to wear their shoes at a small school like Nike-sponsored Mississippi Valley State because smaller schools tend to receive less money from sponsors to wear their uniforms. But at the moment, it might be more difficult for a New Balance athlete, for example, to wear their shoes when a school's highly lucrative deal with Nike is on the line.
With the shifting lines of NIL sponsorships, the future of player empowerment may lead to a new era of shoe deals. Harper and Bailey may have sparked a movement that sees athletes gain power over their schools. It could start in the less lucrative conferences that produce less sponsorship revenue and work its way up to the larger power conferences. Fans could potentially see a hotshot Duke point guard wearing their team's sponsored Nike jersey but wearing his own Adidas-branded shoe. This could be the beginning of even more player empowerment in college sports.
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