Dayton's Holmes signs NIL deal with White-Allen Auto Group
Jul. 15—The White-Allen Auto Group Inc. has a longer history as a corporate sponsor of Dayton Flyers athletics than any other company. The White-Allen MVP award has been handed out to the UD men's basketball team's top player every year since 1953, starting with John Horan and continuing this year with a trio of Flyers: DaRon Holmes II; Toumani Camara; and Malachi Smith.
Now White-Allen has ventured into new territory, signing an endorsement deal with Holmes on Friday that resulted in him driving a 2021 Chevy Tahoe Premier off the lot on North Main Street in downtown Dayton back to campus.
"It's a great opportunity," Holmes said Wednesday. "I'm just very blessed to be able work with them."
It's another name, image and likeness deal for Holmes, a 6-10 forward who was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year in March. He entered into a paid partnership with Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken in January. He will host a camp for kids on Sunday at Sinclair Community College.
Athletes capitalizing on their fame by getting cars for free is nothing new — except at the college level. The NCAA gave athletes their NIL rights a year ago.
Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud signed an endorsement deal with the Sarchione Auto Gallery in Canton in June. As part of the contract, he received a pre-owned Bentley Bentayga, a luxury SUV valued at $150,000. Kansas guard Remy Martin received a new Toyota Camry in October as part of a NIL deal. There are dozens of other examples.
Holmes' deal is the first for a Dayton athlete involving an automobile, and it's no surprise it's with White-Allen. Tim White Jr., president of the company, is a big Dayton fan, as is his dad Tim and as was his grandpa Jim, who played football at UD for coach Harry Baujan
"We've had a long history of supporting the program and trying to do whatever we can," White Jr. said. "With this changing environment, in order to stay competitive, I think everyone has to kind of try to do their part. It's not every day we get a top-50 recruit in our program, and to keep him, you've got to be competitive. We just kind of view this as just another part of what our normal commitment to the athletic program is. This just needs to be something that is incorporated into it going forward."
As part of the deal, Holmes will promote White-Allen on social media, and the company may ask him to participate in community outreach programs.
"He's just a wonderful steward and ambassador for the brand and the university," White said, "and we couldn't be more excited to partner with a young gentleman like himself."
A new Chevy Tahoe can cost more than $60,000, and even a used Chevy Tahoe from 2019 can go for more than $40,000. Former Flyer Bill Uhl Jr., of the Uhl Insurance Agency, and his team are covering Holmes' insurance in another NIL deal, so there are no out-of-pocket expenses for Holmes.
The wheels will help Holmes drive himselfand his teammates, most of whom don't have their own transportation, around town. The players often rely on team managers or graduate assistants to drive them places, said Matt Farrell, a former Dayton men's basketball director of operations who's now a local executive serving as a NIL consultant. White had expressed interest in doing a deal last season, Farrell said, but they didn't want to distract Holmes during the season. It all came together in recent weeks.
White was as excited to hand the keys to Holmes as he was to receive them.
"He was genuinely excited," White said. "He called his mom, FaceTimed her. She was excited. He was giddy. That was fun to see. Knowing that's his type of personality makes it all the more better. He was thankful and appreciative, which is all you can ask for."
