In SC, their faces are front and center in college athletics’ brave new world of NIL

When the clock struck midnight on July 1, 2021, college sports across the state of South Carolina changed forever as a new era of name, image and likeness deals began.

And two years after the NCAA first started allowing athletes to earn money through NIL, it’s not slowing down.

From the Upstate to the Midlands to the Lowcountry, athletes and administrators and everyone in and around college athletics are operating in NIL mode.

Sometimes it’s in public. Sometimes it’s in private. But NIL is ever-present, coloring the biggest and smallest aspects of the industry.

In conjunction with the two-year anniversary of name, image and likeness in South Carolina college athletics, The State is highlighting 11 faces of NIL in the state — the people at the forefront of NIL at USC, Clemson and beyond.

Names are listed alphabetically.

VALERIE CAGLE

Pitcher/infielder, Clemson softball

Scroll through Cagle’s Twitter account and you might not pick up on the fact she’s arguably the best softball player in the country: an ace pitcher, a fearsome hitter and a two-time ACC Player of the Year who was recently described as “the female version of Shohei Ohtani” by her coach.

But you’ll certainly notice her work with Nutifafa Shelter, which “offers practical support for families overwhelmed by cancer” across Upstate South Carolina through financial assistance, gifts, trips and more. Cagle’s been working with Nutifafa Shelter (the name translates to “peace” in the founder’s native language) since last spring through an NIL deal with TigerImpact.

The 21-year-old Cagle also has an NIL deal with Dear Old Clemson, the school’s other main collective, where she’s a top draw among the dozens of players on deals. Dear Old Clemson has signed more than 60 football players and 115 total athletes to deals since 2021, per the collective, but nobody’s sold more collectibles than Cagle.

Signed softballs ($50) and signed softball cards ($25) are among the collective’s online store offerings for Cagle, whose NIL success serves as a reminder that Olympic sport athletes also stand to benefit from this new era — often at a higher rate than athletes in the revenue sports.

BOBBY COUCH

Executive director, TigerImpact

Couch spent 17 years as a lead fundraiser for Clemson through IPTAY, the university’s main athletics fundraising arm. As director of major gifts, he was responsible for courting donors and securing the sort of high-dollar donations that fund flashy new facilities and stadium upgrades.

But in April 2022 Couch made a professional gamble fit for the times. He left IPTAY to work as the executive director of TigerImpact, a charity-focused NIL collective founded by three Clemson football lettermen from the 1980s. Now, he’s the face of a well-established organization.

Here’s how it works: Clemson athletes reach out with a charity in mind, and TigerImpact strikes up a “service agreement” in which they’ll be paid once they complete work on behalf of that charity. Athletes are paid via TigerImpact donations — there’s a sliding scale, so a football star might make more than a tennis star — and no athlete’s paid until their work is done.

The collective currently lists around 60 athlete “ambassadors” on its website, including Shipley and Cagle, and hopes to eventual sign all 500-plus athletes on campus to deals. It’s also raised about $8.3 million, Couch told the Post & Courier earlier this year. If Clemson wants to keep playing for national titles, the long-term viability of collectives such as TigerImpact are crucial.

HILARY COX

Associate director for administration, South Carolina athletics

A former standout softball player at Division II University of North Georgia, Hilary Cox has been on staff at South Carolina for a decade in a handful of different jobs. Most recently, she worked in compliance before being shifted over to her current role overseeing USC’s NIL efforts, in addition to coordinating housing and meal plans for all Gamecocks student-athletes, among other responsibilities.

Cox, who received her master’s in sports management from Tennessee, was appointed as one of the nation’s first in-house NIL coordinators and works closely with athletic director Ray Tanner and senior deputy athletic director Chance Miller.

“We were one of the first schools to designate a staff member as this person is doing NIL in its own department and that’s really important,” she said. “It’s a differentiator, because a lot of schools started out with compliance overseeing NIL or student-athlete development is going to oversee NIL — and that doesn’t make any sense, because NIL is is impacting the entire athletics department.

“My background, my experience here at Carolina has really allowed me to build those relationships with everyone around me so I can get everybody into the room and say, ‘Hey, here’s an issue: We’re selling jerseys on our website. How can we communicate that? How do we market? Compliance, do you have any questions about disclosures? How do we get sign-ups?’ So it really does help when you look at it from the holistic standpoint to get everybody into the room and it’s not silo-ed. It’s a joint effort.”

KOSHA IRBY

Chief marketing officer, Clemson athletics

Irby hadn’t worked in a college NIL setting when he joined Clemson in February. But his two decades of experience across sports, media and entertainment featured plenty of notable stops, including recent gigs with Professional Bull Riders and World Wrestling Entertainment.

Irby thrived in marketing and exposure for PBR and WWE — two off-kilter sports competing against far more established leagues for money and attention — and has done the same at Clemson, according to athletic director Graham Neff, who calls Irby “overqualified” for the job.

“The parallels are all the same,” Irby told The State. “A brand wants to try to work through an ambassador in order to get their message out. And I think we’ve got 500-plus great ambassadors that can do that. We have several brands that are interested in doing that. My job is to try to facilitate the process.”

Clemson’s in-house NIL push is all about “creativity and strategy,” Neff said, and Irby’s one of the athletic department higher-ups leading that charge while making sure things stay “the Clemson way.” For Irby and company, that means operating with precision but integrity while maintaining and adding to facilities such as the new Clemson Athletics Branding Institute.

Irby, a former Memphis defensive back, said earlier this year Clemson is “fully embracing the full NIL model, from coaches to administrators to everyone in the community. That’s paramount.” He’s newer on campus but will remain a crucial voice in the room as the Tigers — along with other schools — tackle the big NIL questions: licensing, collectives, long-term success.

DAKEREON JOYNER

Wide receiver/running back, South Carolina football

If there’s a focal point for the way NIL was intended to be rewarded, South Carolina’s Dakereon Joyner may well be the poster child.

Joyner has become a fan favorite in his almost six years at USC. He was a highly touted recruit out of North Charleston and — following a handful of position switches — he guided South Carolina to a dominant 38-21 victory in the 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

In the time since, Joyner has inked NIL deals and/or worked with between 50 and 100 different brands and businesses while largely handling his own representation. He’s also launched a personally branded clothing company and put on annual football camps in the North Charleston area.

There was a bit of a learning curve in representing himself, Joyner said.

“It definitely gave me the management side a little earlier than expected,” he said. “I’m not managing someone else, but being able to manage myself, that definitely gave me a different take on it as well.”

ERIN KANE

Vice president of women’s sports, Excel Sports Management

South Carolina women’s basketball has been among the biggest beneficiaries of NIL in its short history, and Erin Kane has been at the center of that.

Kane, who repped former USC star Zia Cooke, also counts current Gamecocks Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, Chloe Kitts and MiLaysia Fulwiley among her clients.

“I love working with them,” Kane told The State. “First of all, (coach) Dawn (Staley) has great recruits, great players — and great players choose to come to the University of South Carolina. That part is always really fun. And then they’re just awesome people.”

Kane has been in the sports agency business for the better part of two decades. She previously spent almost five years as the vice president of basketball operations at Octagon before being hired on as the vice president of women’s sports at Excel in February 2022.

Kane is a fixture in the women’s sports game and represents a number of athletes across basketball, golf and softball. Among her basketball clients are WNBA superstar Elena Delle Donne, Napheesa Collier and Kristi Toliver.

MARLON KIMPSON

Former South Carolina state senator

Marlon Kimpson has been as vocal a proponent of paying college athletes in the state of South Carolina as long as anyone.

A Democrat who previously represented the 42nd district, Kimpson introduced legislation in 2014 in the wake of former South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore’s devastating knee injury that functionally ended his football career.

He’s since introduced myriad variations of that bill and was among the co-sponsors for the 2021 bill signed into law that put NIL guardrails in place in the state. (That law has since expired.)

“When I delved further into (the idea of paying college athletes) more, I determined that coaches salaries rivaled the CEOs of publicly traded companies,” Kimpson told The State. “And everybody underneath the coach was getting paid — including the cheerleaders — but (not) the people who actually produced the revenue.”

A Morehouse College graduate, Kimpson completed law school at USC in 1999. He was first elected into the state legislature in 2013. Kimpson announced earlier this year that he will step down from his post to accept an appointment from President Joe Biden on the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

GRAYSON MCCALL

Quarterback, Coastal Carolina football

There may not be any name more synonymous with Coastal Carolina in its brief 20-year history than Grayson McCall.

McCall has been named the Sun Belt offensive player of the year for three consecutive seasons, anchoring the Chanticleers to a 31-6 record and three postseason appearances in that span.

Off the field, the North Carolina native has become a fixture in the NIL game in Conway/Myrtle Beach and nationally. McCall has worked with major fixtures like BRADY, Tom Brady’s apparel company, and Native Son. The redshirt senior, who works with Greenville-based Everett Sports Marketing, has roughly 10 brands he works with regularly — including local work via meet and greets, radio appearances and autograph signings.

“If I had any advice to anyone, it would be to get a marketing team or get represented representative that can talk to these companies and navigate your NIL for you,” McCall told The State. “It definitely helps a lot, because when you’re trying to juggle all these different things it can become a lot over time.”

SELWYN ROBERTS

Vice president of branded content, Steinberg Sports & Entertainment

Selwyn Roberts’ name is likely unknown to most average Gamecocks fans despite his involvement with some of the highest-profile South Carolina football players.

His roster of clients includes, most notably, quarterback Spencer Rattler. Roberts also worked closely with 2023 second-round NFL draft pick Cam Smith during his time at South Carolina.

Roberts largely serves as the point man for Rattler’s NIL deals and helps oversee the bulk of his public appearances — like his youth football camp, autograph signing with the Columbia Fireflies, and more.

Prior to leaping into the sports world, Roberts spent over 21 years working with the United States Army as a senior logistics officer. He’s also held varying roles with iXhault-Athlete Marketing, the Carolina Stars basketball program and is a registered agent with the NFL Players Association.

WILL SHIPLEY

Running back, Clemson football

Shipley, a junior, made history last fall when he became the first ACC player to earn first-team all-conference honors at three different positions: running back, all-purpose and specialist. And when he’s not dazzling Tigers fans with touchdowns, hurdles and long kick returns, he’s building up quite the name, image and likeness brand on a nationally relevant team that’s full of stars.

Shipley, 20, first capitalized on NIL by turning a Dabo Swinney catchphrase — “Ship Happens” — into a T-shirt during his freshman season. He also has a long-running partnership with Levine Children’s Hospital through TigerImpact, a charity-focused collective, and volunteers and holds events there. Shipley fundraised and donated $10,000 to the Charlotte hospital last May.

And his philanthropic efforts extend to Clemson itself: Last November, Shipley and former teammate K.J. Henry donated five figures of NIL earnings apiece to form the 1 CLEM5ON endowment, a play on their respective jersey numbers. That endowment will benefit the school’s multicultural center and women’s sports fundraising effort, among other initiatives.

Partnerships with United Bank and Hendrick Automotive round out Shipley’s portfolio which, he told The NIL Deal, is intended to “switch that narrative” regarding players’ deals. Compensation is part of it, but so is giving back. “It’s unbelievable what you can do with your platform,” he said.

“Whether it’s financially, whether it’s relationships, connecting with people, it’s just created such a great opportunity for my family and I,” Shipley said. “So I’m very, very appreciative and very, very appreciative of Clemson University and their willingness to help us and brand us in a way that gives us that umph.”

JEREMY SMITH

Operations Director, The Garnet Trust

Smith, a Florida native, had a deep background on the business side before making the jump to the NIL space over the past two years. He spent over a decade working for both Symantec and the Frierson Group in the Orlando area.

The UCF graduate has since relocated to the Columbia area, where he oversees day-to-day operations for the Garnet Trust, South Carolina’s publicly backed NIL collective. He’s also licensed as a sports agent by the state of South Carolina in order to help procure deals for Gamecocks athletes.

“This opportunity arose and I said, ‘Absolutely,’ “ Smith told The State. “I’m a Gamecock and I’m going to make sure that they get the best support they possibly can.”

Though Smith’s work is mostly behind the scenes, he’s helped over 100 student-athletes at USC year-to-date with a goal to reach more than 200 by the end of 2023 through the Garnet Trust.

“We’re behind other SEC schools, and we really need the fan base and community and businesses alike to come together and really help support us in this new world,” Smith said. “Facilities were the importance in the past. Today, it’s NIL. I do think that landscape will change a little bit over the next few years and you might not see it as big of a deal. But I think, for right now, athletes are looking to us to provide them some image and likeness opportunities.”