College football 5-star recruit reportedly getting 7-figure deal
Los Alamitos (Calif.) quarterback Malachi Nelson is considered the No. 2 recruit in the class of 2023. He initially committed to play for Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma in July. Riley, of course, left Norman to take the job at USC, and unsurprisingly, Nelson flipped his recruitment to the Trojans just days later.
On Tuesday, Nelson inked an NIL deal worth “nearly a million dollars” with The h.wood Group, he told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
The h.wood Group is “a Los Angeles-based global hospitality firm with more than 30 restaurants and clubs worldwide that are frequented by boldfaced names like Drake and the Kardashians,” Thamel writes. Its co-founders graduated from USC.
California is among the states that permit such NIL deals to be made with high-schoolers, meaning that Nelson is among the first of what could be a long line of recruits in the Golden State to take advantage of such opportunities.
“It’s cool to be a part of it and be at the front of everything that’s happening, especially in the high school space,” he told Thamel. “It’s good to get to this point where people are getting rewarded for what they do. It’s amazing to be at the front of it.”
And Nelson hopes that a lucrative professional career is in his future once his time with USC is complete.
“At the end of the day, we’re chasing the NFL and that second contract when you really get paid, he said. “All of this is lining up to get to that point.”
Good for the kid.
It’s no longer college football, it’s NFL minor league football.
Nearly a million for a qb? That’s peanuts!
This is just the beginning. Unless they can somehow put the genie back in the bottle cf as we know it is going to change forever. If teams like Mizzou, Arkansas, Miss State, Ole Miss, etc think they were at a disadvantage before it’s nothing compared to what will happen now.
If Texas needs a kicker their boosters will go buy one away from some other team etc.
Tony, I sure am glad you said Texas and not Texas A&M because we KNOW the Aggies don’t buy players. Players only go to College Station for the stadium and facilities, right Jimbo?
What makes you think Walmart and Tyson Foods can’t afford to buy players?
Bingo. The whole Paige Laurie debacle may keep Walmart out of Missouri, but they and Tyson are a huge untapped resource for this region.
Arkansas can lay down as much money as anyone. If by chance someone thinks the Hogs are at a disadvantage from NIL doesn’t understand Alum and what schools have huge war chest. Even with Texas and Oklahoma being oil states with rich alum Arkansas has many sets of deep pockets too.
The tears are flowing from Sabans eyes, no doubt.
Yes, NIL is leveling the playing field for a few others. The Red Elephant club has had a good run with Saban for years with their under the table NIL deals before NIL. Many colleges will suffer no doubt, but wealthy Alum with companies that can swing a NIL deals will no doubt,,, close the gap between Bama and others.
What will be priceless is five years from now when SC is finding a way to rid themselves of Riley for not winning a natty.
It appears Riley has some nice advantages: almost no in-conference competition; wealthy boosters; the glitz, glamour, and scenery of Southern California; he’s embraced the transfer portal; and free of the mind-set of NIL money going to unproven players.
Malachi is well worth it. He plays much more superior competition compared to Archie Manning and some analyst like him better than Archie. Frankly, if Archie didn’t have the gene pool he’d likely be a 4 star.
How do you know that Nelson won’t be a flop once he gets on campus??
If the very top high school players are worthy these large NIL deals, Nelson is as good of a risk as any of them. No one has that crystal ball. Busts happen. There’s always going to be Ryan Leafs and Tony Mandarichs.
Exactly. I can’t wait until one of these million $ babies gets beat out by some walk on. NIL should only be for players already in the program. What a hot mess.
BoondockSaint why are you wishing failure on kids just because they’re getting money that the market says they deserve? It’s free enterprise it’s the American way stop hating dude if it was your grandson you’d want him to get paid if someone was willing to pay him
How do you know he will? What makes you believe arch manning will live up to his name after competing against some of the worst competition in Louisiana? The kid played a Florida team on ESPN and his team got destroyed and he didn’t do much. He’s a 5 star because of the name
That’s why we are USC and they are just The University of Spoiled Children
On top of his scholarship..