Alright, let’s talk about this young fella, Harrison Ingram. Folks keep jabberin’ ‘bout him and this “NIL money.” Now, I ain’t no fancy city slicker, but I can tell ya what I’ve heard and what it all seems to mean.
First off, they say this boy is a basketball player, plays for some college team and now got drafted by the San Antonio Spurs. Good for him, I say! Workin’ hard and playin’ a game, that’s a good way to make a livin’. But this here NIL stuff, that’s somethin’ new.
What is this NIL thing anyway? Well, from what I gather, it’s like this: these college kids, they got names, right? And faces. And they’re good at sports. So, companies, they wanna use that name and face to sell their stuff. Like them chicken places, KFC, or them shoe companies, like Crocs. And they pay these kids for it. They call it “Name, Image, Likeness,” NIL for short.
Now, this Harrison Ingram, he’s one of them kids. Folks are sayin’ he’s made a good chunk of change with this NIL stuff. I heard tell he’s got deals with KFC, some kinda shoe store, and even places that sell medicine and taxes! Can you believe it? Taxes! Lord have mercy, what a world.
- He’s got a bunch of folks followin’ him on them internet things, Instagram and TikTok and whatnots.
- They say he’s got hundreds of thousands of followers. That’s more folks than live in my whole town, I reckon.
- And all them followers, they see him wearin’ certain shoes or eatin’ certain chicken, and they might wanna go buy it too. That’s the idea, anyways.
So, how much money are we talkin’ about? Well, nobody knows for sure, ‘cause folks like to keep their business private. But them internet folks, they like to guess. Some say he’s made hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even more than what some folks make in a whole lifetime of workin’ on the farm. Can you imagine? A young fella makin’ that kinda money just for bein’ good at throwin’ a ball and havin’ his picture taken.
Is it fair, you ask? Well, that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms. Some folks say it’s about time these kids got a piece of the pie. They say the colleges and the TV folks are makin’ millions off these kids, so why shouldn’t the kids get some too? And others say it’s too much, that it’s gonna ruin college sports, make it all about the money. Me? I don’t rightly know. Seems like a lot of money for a youngun, but if folks are willin’ to pay him, then I guess that’s his business.
But I tell you what, this NIL money, it’s changed things. Back in my day, you played sports ‘cause you loved the game, ‘cause you wanted to represent your school, your town. Now, it seems like it’s all about the endorsements, the sponsorships, the money. Makes you wonder what’s gonna happen next. Will these kids even care about gettin’ a good education? Will they just be focused on how many followers they got and how much money they can make?
And this Harrison Ingram, he ain’t the only one, mind you. There are tons of these college athletes gettin’ in on this NIL action. They got rankings and lists and all sorts of ways to figure out who’s worth the most money. It’s a whole new world out there, I tell ya. And I’m just an old lady tryin’ to make sense of it all.
One thing’s for sure, though, this Harrison Ingram fella, he’s doin’ somethin’ right. He’s playin’ good ball, he’s got folks payin’ him for his name and face, and he’s got a future ahead of him. Whether it’s in basketball or somethin’ else, I reckon he’ll be alright. He’s got that somethin’ special, that star quality, they call it. And in this day and age, that’s worth more than a whole field of corn, I reckon. So good on him, I say. Good on him.
And now he is getting paid by San Antonio Spurs, making $578,577 for the 2024-25 season. He is a small forward after all. They drafted him pretty high I guess, 48th overall. He was only 22, not even fully grown if you ask me. Well, I wish him good luck.
Tags: [Harrison Ingram, NIL, College Basketball, San Antonio Spurs, KFC, endorsements, athlete compensation, sports marketing, social media, NBA]
