Student Athlete NIL is proud to announce the nominations for the Inaugural NIL Awards, recognizing exceptional achievement by student-athletes, brands and institutions during the first year of name, image and likeness. The NIL Awards gala ceremony will take place on the evening of Monday, June 13 at the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the Inaugural NIL Summit.
Award Categories And Nominees
selection committee
Nicole Auerbach
Saquon Barkley
Kristi Castlin
Kristi Dosh
Morgan Frazier
Nick Marquez
Monique Nelson
Darren Rovell
Neeta Sreekanth
Female Athlete of the Year
This award recognizes the female student-athletes that have exhibited the best use of their Name, Image, and Likeness. Judges will consider student-athletes that have best leveraged their NIL across multiple activations, platforms and campaigns to create maximum impact for their partners.
Paige Bueckers
UCONN
Haley & Hanna Cavinder
Fresno State
Olivia Dunne
LSU
Logan Eggleston
Texas
JAIDEN FIELDS
Georgia
Sedona Prince
Oregon
Presented by:
Male Athlete of the Year
This award recognizes the male student-athletes that have exhibited the best use of their Name, Image, and Likeness. Judges will consider student-athletes that have best leveraged their NIL across multiple activations, platforms and campaigns to create maximum impact for their partners.
Chase Griffin
UCLA
Gable Steveson
Minnesota
Shareef O'Neal
LSU
Shedeur Sanders
Jackson State
Rayquan Smith
Norfolk State
Bryce Young
Alabama
Presented by:
Innovator of the Year
This award recognizes the student-athlete that has best exemplified innovation and creativity through novel usage of their Name, Image and Likeness to generate tremendous value for their partners and/or themselves.
Leah Clapper
Florida
Derrian Gobourne
Auburn
Ra-Sun Kazadi
SMU
D'eriq King & McKenzie Milton
Florida State/Miami
Chloe Mitchell
Aquinas College
Will Ulmer
Marshall
Presented by:
Hustle Award
This award recognizes the student-athlete that, while not a major statistical contributor to their team, utilized an unrelenting determination combined with entrepreneurial savvy, to excel in their Name, Image and Likeness endeavors off the field or court.
Emily Cole
Duke
The Hockey Guys
Wisconsin-Superior
Angel Reese
Maryland
Rayquan Smith
Norfolk State
Jon Seaton
Elon
Bre Socker
St John Fisher College
Presented by:
Scholar Athlete of the Year
This award recognizes the student-athlete that achieved exceptional results in the classroom and in their respective sport, while maximizing their Name, Image and Likeness for the greater good.
Buddy Boeheim
Syracuse
Aliyah Boston
South Carolina
Leah Clapper
Florida
Georgina Corrick
USF
Britain Covey
Utah
Collin Wilder
Wisconsin
Presented by:
Athlete Advocate of the Year
This award recognizes the student-athlete that has best leveraged their Name, Image and Likeness to create substantial impact towards their community, non-profit, and/or philanthropic causes.
Cal Adomitis
Pittsburgh
Geo Baker
Rutgers
Dillan Gibbons
Florida State
Fran Belibi
Stanford
Tyler Linderbaum
Iowa
Megan Skaggs
Florida
Breakthrough Athlete of the Year
This award recognizes the student-athlete that, following one or more outstanding performances on the field or court, took advantage of the moment to maximize their Name, Image and Likeness opportunities.
Jared Casey
Kansas
Jordan Chiles
UCLA
Doug Edert
Saint Peter's University
Rachel Heck
Stanford
Sunisa Lee
Auburn
Caleb Williams
USC
Presented by:
Crypto Award
This award recognizes creative excellence and collaboration between a brand or organization and student-athletes to leverage blockchain – Crypto, NFTs and other Digital Assets – to create an outstanding and memorable campaign. Judges are looking for originality, complexity, personality, concept value, quality of composition, creativity, and skills.
Derrian Gobourne
Legacy League
Shareef O'neal
NFT Genius
Kansas Men's Basketball
RockChalk
Best individual Campaign
This award recognizes a brand or organization who showed excellence in collaboration with a team of student-athletes at one or more schools, and across multiple media channels (print, digital, etc.) to generate maximum impact and consumer conversation.
Degree
Breaking Limits
Dollar Shave Club
Chin-fluencer
Champion​
Get it Girl
HR Block
Fair Shot
Morgan & Morgan
Size Matters
Best Team Campaign
This award recognizes a brand or organization who showed excellence in collaboration with a team of student-athletes at one or more schools, and across multiple media channels (print, digital, etc.) to generate maximum impact and consumer conversation.
Built Bar
BYU Football
College Hunks
Howard MBB, San Diego State FB, UCF WBB
Outback
multiple
Tivo
Georgia Tech Football
Best Social Media Campaign
This award recognizes the most exceptional NIL marketing campaign activated over one of more social media platforms. Judges will consider social engagement, fan conversation, as well as coordination if part of a larger integrated or multi-channel campaign.
Boost Mobile
Bojangles
Mercedes Benz
TIAA
Best Institutional Program
This award recognizes a college or institution that has shown exceptional commitment to supporting its student-athletes in maximizing their Name, Image and Likeness opportunities through a combination of education, resources and industry-leading innovation.
Arkansas
Flagship
Auburn
Spirit
Boise State
What's Next
Michigan
Victors
Oklahoma State
OSU Elite
Ohio State
The Platform
Presented by:
Brand Of the Year
This award recognizes creative excellence by a brand or organization for collaboration with a student-athlete. Judges will award the brand that has demonstrated how partnership, creativity, and novel activation in NIL can drive exceptional results and engagement.
BreakingT
Boost Mobile
College Hunks
Degree
Outback
WWE
