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Happy March Madness!

Let’s jump right into this week’s edition of The Baseline…

NIL EVOLUTION

A New Opportunity For Fans and Athletes

This college basketball player is literally saving a kid’s life with his NIL money.

While most fans think athletes are just buying sneakers and jewelry, this former five-star recruit is proving that NIL has NOT ruined college sports.

In fact, it's giving athletes opportunities to make life-changing impacts, like Jaemyn Brakefield, who can now support the people he cares about the most.

Brandon, the nephew of his high school coach, recently moved in with Jaemyn at Ole Miss and now has a new home, a new school, and a fresh start in life.

When Jaemyn met Brandon, he saw a younger version of himself—a kid growing up without a father and living in a tough environment.

After initially playing at Duke, Jaemyn transferred to Ole Miss, where he is now a senior, averaging 10 points per game and 5 rebounds per game for the No. 6 seed in the South Region.

Even while competing for a national championship, Jaemyn has always prioritized Brandon’s future, helping him with homework and even attending PTA meetings.

Jaemyn has become the big brother and mentor that Brandon never had, but without NIL, this wouldn't have been possible.

And here’s the best part about this entire story—Brandon is now thriving as he’s lost 50 pounds, joined his school’s football team, and finally has the support he has always needed.

You won't believe it, but every day after school, Jaemyn asks:

“How was your day? You got any homework?”

For Brandon, those small questions mean the world to him because before NIL, no one ever asked.

With new NIL platforms like ROY, it's easier than ever for fans to directly support their favorite athletes like Jaemyn, who are using NIL for a positive impact.

FREE THROWS

Sharing the tools and resources that I’m using this week:

💰 Athletes.org’s Creator Tourney - I’ll be one of the judges for this year’s March Madness-style bracket hosted by the Player’s Association for College Athletes, which is helping create and build awareness for equitable treatment for athletes in college sports.

📊 On3 NIL Valuations - These valuations are not completely accurate, but it’s interesting to see how these NIL valuations fluctuate over the next few weeks of March Madness and which players land new brand deals after strong performances in both the Men’s Tournament and Women’s Tournament.

📌 Extra Value Newsletter - A weekly exploration of the world of social media and creator insights by JT Barnett, the founder of CreatorX.

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FAST BREAK

Here’s what you missed this week:

⭐️ LSU star Flau’jae Johnson will undoubtedly be one of the stars of this year’s March Madness and she recently revealed major brand partnership announcements, including a $5 million debt relief program with Experian, a financial literacy program with MassMutual, a training challenge with Oreo, and she created the official March Madness song with Powerade and Lyrical Lemonade.

🌹 Chelsea Gray and Rose BC just made history as Unrivaled's first-ever champions, and we're signing the petition to get the entire team a Miller Lite deal.

🦇 Converse Basketball pulled off a bold marketing stunt in Boston by projecting SGA’s logo in a bat-signal style execution across the city following Shai's victory over the Celtics.

🫂 AT&T dropped one of the best March Madness commercials ever with a “Nova Knicks” reunion starring Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo.

👟 A'ja Wilson returned to South Carolina to provide her community with an early release of her signature shoe and a retail experience in collaboration with Nike Basketball and Foot Locker.

🔟 Michelob Ultra and Chris Brickley are offering a 10-day NBA contract with the Atlanta Hawks, including pro-level experiences, travel to an away game, exclusive gear, team interactions, a front-row seat to the action, and a chance to play on an NBA court.

🟢 adidas Basketball dropped their Metamorphosis pack, and James Harden arrived in a new Maserati to match his Harden 9s.

3️⃣ Stephen Curry reached 4,000 career 3-pointers made, and Under Armour cast Dave Chappelle for the voiceover of their celebration spot. Curry also announced his new role as Assistant General Manager for Davidson College's basketball team.

💜 TCU’s Hailey Van Lith received the ultimate social media co-sign with a collab post with Instagram, as they spotlighted her in their #10Things series.

✨ Gatorade has the three biggest stars in men's and women's basketball as signed athletes, but only two of them collaborated on their latest Instagram commercial post.

🏆 OTE wrapped up another season as YNG Dreamerz won the championship with a last-second game winner. Arguably the most influential teen basketball star, Eli Ellis, concluded a historic OTE career and is set to play at the University of South Carolina.

📺 Uninterrupted announced a new YouTube series, "C-Suite Ballers," hosted by Chiney Ogwumike, which will discuss the most influential women in sports.

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POST-GAME

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy the greatest week in college basketball…

And don’t forget, if you enjoyed reading today’s newsletter—please share it with one friend.

- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻