Yahoo Sports NIL in public schools? Inside the NCHSAA’s presentation to the state education board
Just more than a year after N.C. lawmakers struck down a potential name, image and likeness (NIL) policy for North Carolina’s public school athletes, a policy could again be under consideration.
Representatives from the NCHSAA met with the N.C. State Board of Education on Wednesday to present findings about NIL and make recommendations for a potential statewide policy. The state board could vote on a proposal later this fall.
The presentation was called “Name/Image/Likeness: To Be Or Not To Be?” After it ended, board members asked several questions and a few indicated a policy was needed.
“This is an incredibly complex and difficult step we have to take,” one board member said, “but I think we have got to take the step. We can’t just say we’re not going to do anything, it’s too complicated.”
NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker led the presentation.
“We can’t run away from it, because it’s here,” Tucker said of NIL nationally, mentioning that colleges are dealing with it now. “It is tricking down (to high school sports). ... How we do we move forward?”
The NCHSAA asked the education board to consider enacting a policy that would allow for “consistency across the state,” and one that would adhere to state regulations. The NCHSAA would like a policy to define which student-athletes are eligible and the type of NIL activities — such as endorsements and personal appearances — that would be allowed.
The NCHSAA’s recommendation, laid out in a public-facing document, would also “set standards” so NIL activities do not negatively affect academic performance or interfere with the student-athlete’s commitment to his or her team. The association’s proposed plan would also provide financial education for athletes and consider whether a student-athlete’s potential NIL income should be limited to ensure compliance with school or district policies.
“We clearly understand our role in this,” Tucker said. “We can’t create a policy.”
Some members of the state board asked Tucker about potential problems with implementing an NIL policy, including the need for legal counsel, how the NCHSAA would monitor NIL deals and how families would be educated on various regulations.
“We need a policy in place to help guide and protect those families,” said Pikeville Aycock principal Tod Morgan, an NCHSAA board member who led the association’s NIL committee. “We are really trying to be proactive to try to help and guide our student-athletes and their families.”
State Board of Education member Wendell Hall, who served on the NCHSAA’s NIL committee, said he thought Wednesday’s meeting and proposal was a good start towards a potential policy.
“Whatever we come up with,” Hall said, “we are going to have to come back and revisit this thing time and time again in order to get in compliance with laws.”
Private schools already have NIL
The state’s private schools in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association can benefit from NIL beginning this school year.
In January, the NCISAA voted to allow NIL, joining more than 30 high school athletic associations nationwide that have approved an NIL policy.
Specific aspects of the NCISAA’s policy include:
▪ Student-athletes must keep their NIL activities and participation in interscholastic athletics separate.
▪ No collectives.
▪ Member schools cannot offer, secure or participate in NIL deals.
▪ Limited permissible activities.
▪ All NIL deals must be reported to and approved by the NCISAA State Office.
The rules are similar to a policy that the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s Board of Directors approved for member schools in May 2023. Lawmakers soon overruled the change, however, and there is currently no NIL policy for public school athletes and it is not legal for public school athletes to make money off NIL.
According to the NCHSAA’s NIL committee, the average NIL deal for high school athletes in other states ranged between $60 and $120 in the 2022-23 school year.
However, many star high school athletes are earning more than that. Adidas, for example, has signed several high profile football and basketball players to NIL deals.
In 2021, Texas high school star Quinn Ewers skipped his senior season to enroll at Ohio State because Texas state law doesn’t allow any prospective student-athlete to be compensated for NIL before enrolling in college. After he enrolled at Ohio State, CBS Sports reported that Ewers signed a seven-figure NIL deal.
When she was in high school, basketball phenom Jada Williams moved from Missouri, where NIL deals were prohibited, to California, where they are allowed. She played prep basketball in San Diego and was reportedly earning six figures from NIL deals. Williams is now at Arizona.
