Great Clips signs UConn's Alex Karaban, Purdue's Braden Smith, UCLA's Gabriela Jaquez to NIL deals

Great Clips is once again calling in three college basketball stars for March Madness. UConn forward Alex Karaban, Purdue guard Braden Smith and UCLA forward Gabriela Jaquez have all signed NIL deals with the brand.

The trio is part of Great Clips’ NCAA Tournament campaign, which kicked off this week. Each player will star in commercials for the company alongside CBS’ lead play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle, who also provides commentary in the ads.

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Great Clips is also allowing fans to redeem a $12.99 coupon throughout March Madness. It’s the company’s latest initiative for the NCAA Tournament after calling on college basketball stars the last few years.

The NCAA Tournament is a prime time for brands to ink NIL deals with college basketball athletes. Recent data from Opendorse shows men’s basketball NIL earnings, in particular, increased by 92% during the NCAA Tournament. Speaking with On3 via Zoom, Karaban said that’s one of the great parts of competing on the big stage.

“It’s amazing. … Just being able to see myself on different social media platforms or on TV representing brands that align with me, like Great Clips, I think it’s special,” Karaban said. “I’ll never take it for granted.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to have partnerships with so many different brands. I even grew up going to Great Clips as a kid, and I never would’ve thought I would be able to work with them. To be able to work with them is special. I think that’s one of the great positive sides that NIL presents to us athletes.”

Both Karaban and Smith echoed part of a popular Deion Sanders quote when asked about the partnership Great Clips: “If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good.” Smith told On3 that helped make the deal stand out since he also used to style his hair more when he was younger.

“I feel like me, it’s how I’ve always been playing basketball,” Smith said. “When I was younger, I used to gel my hair and do all that. I understand the look-good, feel-good part. It’s really what it is.”

Of course, there’s also a necessary balance to playing in NCAA Tournament games while also signing NIL deals off the court. To Smith, who has a $1.7 million On3 NIL Valuation, that’s where his agents come into play. He praised his reps at Priority Sports – which also represents Karaban – for helping him find that balance.

“I think they do an unbelievable job with balancing,” Smith told On3. “They offer help. They do a bunch of different things to understand, ‘Here’s an off day here. There’s an off day there. What do you want to do there?’ They have that balance.

“It’s been really nice being able to not only focus on that, but be able to focus on basketball while doing both. They’ve played a huge part in that.”