Current Citadel student-athlete, and former Jenkins quarterback Javonte Middleton announced Wednesday that he had entered into a representation agreement with a Savannah based marketing company, Nikkos Creative.
He is a rising redshirt junior on the football field, but is a senior academically and is on pace to graduate in the spring with a degree in sports management.
While at Jenkins, Middleton threw for 54 touchdowns and 6,007 yards in a sparkling four-year career under coaches Tim Adams and Jason Cameron. He rushed for another 24 touchdowns and 1,418 yards for an incredible 78 total touchdowns and 7,425 total yards. Middleton isn’t the only Savannah native to get involved with money-making opportunities after the NCAA opened up name, image, likeness possibilities beginning on July 1, 2021.
Nolan Smith, a University of Georgia linebacker and former Calvary and IMG star, is also diving into the NLI realm with a football camp this weekend at Daffin Park.
Middleton becomes the first Citadel football player to take advantage of the NCAA’s new Name, Image and Likeness policies. The new rules allow players to benefit monetarily off their own brands from doing things like hosting youth camps, holding autograph signing events, representing brands at speaking engagements and on social media, and many other avenues towards making coin.
“(Nikkos) is basically going to be the liaison between me and brands who want to use me, but it’s more than that for me,” Middleton said to the Prep Sports Report in a phone call on Wednesday.
“I really wanted to have someone like (Nikkos) just to make sure I wasn’t going to get into any trouble NCAA-wise just with eligibility and stuff. I’m prioritizing making sure that I’m promoting things that I’m actually interested in, not just selling things to sell them.
When asked, Middleton was candid about all things NLI and Savannah.
How do brands contact him and reach him for deals?
“On Twitter would actually be the best.”
Does he have any advice for senior high school athletes who may not have been promoting themselves the right way before now? Yes. Lots.
“Nobody wants to hire someone to represent them as a professional if that person doesn't treat themselves like a professional. You have to be a ‘commercial guy’ sometimes and a lot of guys don’t want to put in time cleaning up and maintaining their social media (accounts).
“But it matters now. Start preparing now to put yourself in a position to be successful with this (NLI) thing. I knew it was going to move fast, but it’s only going to get faster.”
Middleton announced on his Twitter profile Thursday that he is promoting a Savannah-based school-clothing store. He did so by modeling the different school uniforms available to customers and the post included the photos. His account currently has 2,285 followers and, according to an early July Sports Illustrated report, the market (fluctuating daily due to the recency of its opening) for student-athletes and brands tends to hover around $0.75 - $0.85 per social media follower.
He has 8,694 followers on Instagram. You do the math.
Follow Javonte on Twitter for specifics on what’s next for him, @JMiddleton912. On Instagram, he is @BigTicketSauce.
Follow Travis on Twitter/Instagram @JaudonSports. Email him at travisLjaudon@gmail.com.
