Memphis basketball's Jalen Duren to release NFT through NIL deal with Candy Digital
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Jalen Duren's finger injury might be keeping him off the court, but Memphis basketball's freshman center is staying active in name, image and likeness.
Duren, a projected NBA lottery pick whose NIL ventures are managed by VaynerSports, will join four other college basketball stars to make up Candy Digital's inaugural "Candy Sweet Futures" class, and each player will soon unveil an exclusive NFT – a non-fungible token, which are one-of-a-kind digital items whose ownership are tracked using a blockchain. Last March, an NFT by digital artist "Beeple" sold for $69 million.
Candy Digital bills itself as a "next-generation digital collectible company."
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The other members of the company's inaugural class include Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren, Alabama's JD Davison, Nebraska's Bryce McGowens and Notre Dame's Blake Wesley. Each player will have four tokens, including a 1-of-1 auction, Epic, Rare and a four-day open Core edition, according to a news release. The collectibles will be made available for purchase over several weeks beginning in late February.
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The NIL deal is at least the third for Duren, who also has sponsorships with Bose and In-House, a digital fashion marketplace.
“I’ve been very selective about the brands I partner with, including in the new and exciting world of NFTs,” Duren said via news release. “Candy Digital has quickly become a leader in the NFT marketplace and is the perfect fit for me to join their Sweet Futures program.”
Duren is still dealing with a finger injury he suffered following the Tigers' Jan. 20 loss to Southern Methodist. The injury kept him out of last week's win at Tulsa and could sideline him for Memphis' game against East Carolina on Thursday. A hip injury also kept Duren out of the team's first win over Tulsa on Jan. 4.
The 6-foot-11 center is second on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) and first in rebounding (7.3 rpg). Duren is also 27th in the country with 2.53 blocks per game.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Tigers basketball: Jalen Duren's NIL deal with Candy Digital
