With PIAA approval of name, image, and likeness deals for high schoolers, concerns from Philly coaches

The PIAA board of directors completed a final vote Wednesday that allows high school athletes to formally engage in name, image, and likeness deals across the state, District 12 chairman Mike Hawkins said in a telephone interview.

In the final vote, Hawkins said, it was determined that individuals who are not lawyers in good standing with the state bar association who wish to engage an athlete in an NIL deal must register as agents with the state athletic commission. Those agents must also receive proper clearances to work with children through state police.

According to the PIAA website, certain industries and products are prohibited from NIL deals with high school athletes, including adult entertainment products and services, alcohol, casinos and gambling, sports betting, tobacco and electronic smoking products and devices, opioids and prescription pharmaceuticals, weapons, firearms and ammunition, among others. Also, within 72 hours of engaging in a deal, athletes must inform their school’s principal or athletic director, who then must follow certain protocols.

Athletes are also prohibited from wearing logos of NIL partners during team activities and cannot reference any PIAA member school within NIL activities. NIL deals also cannot be used as an incentive for enrollment decisions or membership on a team, nor can anyone affiliated with a member school solicit or negotiate a student’s use of NIL. A complete list of approved and prohibited actions can be found on the PIAA website.

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In the days before Wednesday’s meeting, The Inquirer talked to several coaches about their reactions to the NIL developments.

Neumann Goretti football coach Albie Crosby had concerns about the physical safety of young athletes in Philadelphia. Imhotep Charter boys’ basketball coach Andre Noble had similar concerns, but considers himself a proponent of NIL deals. Carl Arrigale, the Neumann Goretti boys’ basketball coach who has won the most Catholic League championships in history, had concerns about how NIL could shape the landscape of local high school sports.

Crosby has helped many football players reach various levels of college football since he became head coach at Imhotep in 2012. The West Philly native was also an assistant coach at his alma mater, West Catholic, for 11 seasons. He spent two years coaching running backs when La Salle University had a football program.

He knows Philly well, even the newest generation, which no longer seems to abide by the unwritten rule that athletes are “off limits.”

“Yeah,” Crosby said, “I think a lot of times [now] athletes are the guys who are the targets.”

As far back as the 1950s, and perhaps earlier, athletes, especially those who people in the city thought had a chance to become successful, were protected from trouble: fights, gun violence, robberies, etc.

One coach, who played college sports in the city during the 1990s, said as a college athlete he was once advised to leave an outdoor sporting event because an elder in the crowd knew a fight was likely to occur.

Coaches have offered varying theories for why the shift has occurred. Some believe it’s because elders or “old heads,” who were once well-respected across the city, either no longer exist or have been replaced by younger, more impulsive leaders. Others believe jealousy lies at the core.

Whatever the reason, Crosby is concerned that more money — or the perception of more money — will bring more problems.

“Because I think it puts another target on our kids’ backs,” he said. “Once it gets publicized that a guy got an NIL deal, people might not understand what the deal might actually look like.”

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Crosby, who also runs the nationally respected seven-on-seven team known as the Playmakers and has been affiliated with sports apparel businesses, said deals can be misleading to the public.

An NIL deal publicized to be worth $50,000, he said, might include only $5,000 in cash and the rest in product.

“Then all of a sudden people are looking at [the athlete] because they think he got $50,000,” Crosby said. “Then he becomes a target.”

Crosby added that he is a proponent of young people making money and wants to learn more about NIL deals.

Courtney Altemus can help.

Altemus is the managing partner and founder of Advance, a company that provides NIL education for several NCAA member schools and conferences, and now the PIAA.

“The key is getting educated,” Altemus said in a recent phone interview.

Knowledge might help with another of Crosby’s concerns, specifically what he sees as a shift toward a “microwave society,” in which children and adults alike want things faster than ever before.

Altemus, who spent nearly 25 years working on Wall Street, often advises parents and athletes against seeking such speed.

“What I say to everybody,” she said, “is that there’s no deal at this point in their lives that is more important than school or their sport. There’s no deal that is going to positively impact them for the rest of their lives that they could miss out on. … Practicing slowing down are big things we talk about.”

At the collegiate level, Altemus has heard horror stories of athletes signing contracts that gave away their name, image, and likeness in perpetuity.

Advance offers financial literacy-style courses. A free one, she said, was done in conjunction with the National Federation of State High School Associations.

On the high school level, Altemus urges parents to be the first line of defense, ask questions, ask for background checks, and look for red flags.

One such signal, she said, would be a potential representative constantly selling himself yet not asking anything about the athlete’s goals. In order to achieve a client’s goals, she said, an agent should get to know the athlete.

Altemus isn’t sure how many high school athletes will command NIL deals. Many factors, she said, will determine that calculus.

On the collegiate level, though, she said some of the most successful outcomes have come from athletes who leveraged another skill in addition to their athletic prowess.

For example, Ra’sun Kazadi was a defensive back at SMU. Now, he’s a successful artist, thanks, in part, to his ability to pursue NIL deals.

Opportunities similar to those earned by Kazadi are likely what intrigues Imhotep’s Noble the most.

Noble voiced concern that “the powers that be” seem to be more concerned about potential consequences when new groups of people have the opportunity to receive compensation.

“It especially makes me concerned when it’s minority student-athletes [and then] a bunch of those questions start happening,” said Noble, who has won 10 Public League titles since 2004. “So I am definitely a proponent of [NIL]. I think it’s a great opportunity for student-athletes, and I’m really always going to be supportive of student-athletes.”

In November, Imhotep, where Noble is also the athletic director, hosted a seminar designed to educate athletes about NIL and its various challenges. Imhotep’s Justin Edwards, currently ESPN’s No. 1-ranked senior in the nation and a Kentucky basketball signee, was also part of the roundtable discussion.

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So was Philadelphia City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who is also the basketball coach at Sankofa Freedom Academy.

Also in November, Thomas introduced the Philly NIL Youth Protection Act, which aims to “provide financial literacy and consumer protection for youth athletes with prospective NIL deals.”

The act would provide educational materials on NIL deals to students and their families, including the likelihood of receiving a deal, the benefits and risks, and guidance on the various types of deals. The bill would also establish the Philly NIL Youth Protection Fund, which would “equip families of students with prospective NIL deals with a city-vetted lawyer and/or accountant, to assist in navigating and negotiating these deals.”

“By putting financial education and consumer protection at the forefront of these deals,” Thomas said in a statement, “Philly is sending the message that you can play, work, and grow here. Philly’s professional teams and fans are having a moment — this bill will ensure that this moment extends to the next generation of Philly leaders.”

Arrigale, who won a record 11th PCL championship last season, has seen a lot since he took over the Saints’ basketball program in 1999.

Like other coaches, he expressed happiness that athletes could reap financial rewards for their talents. He wonders, however, if NIL deals might lead to local players changing schools for financial reasons, though PIAA rules forbid such a motivation.

“You might see kids leaving their neighborhood school to play somewhere else like [private schools in Florida],” he said.

Crosby expressed similar concerns about schools with means and opportunities leaving those without such privileges even farther behind.

He added that college coaches have cautioned him about fighting and jealousy that can occur among teammates over NIL deals.

Northeast High athletic director Phil Gormley, once the longtime football coach of the Vikings, said he was recently warned by a college coach that certain issues could be headed for high schools.

“What they’re seeing at the college level is on its way to high schools,” Gormley said. “Similar to the college level, it’s not a level playing field. Some schools spend a lot of money and some don’t. Private schools have more money than non-private schools. When you have access to people with money, that’s what could happen.”