Quality Over Quantity
Why Less is More in NIL Education.
Today is the last day to save $150 on the NIL/mba.
This six-week, 90-minute per week intensive course starts February 5th. I’ve brought together the very best NIL faculty, including: Mit Winter - Kennyhertz Perry, Chase Garrett - Icon Source, Maddie Walsh - UCLA, Paul Grindstaff- Anchor Impact (Vanderbilt Athletics Collective), and Sam Green - NIL with Sam Green.
You’ll gain actionable insights, learn best practices, and network with faculty and other participants.
The early registration discount ends tonight.
What a Terrible Use of Resources - Thank You Gettyburg College!
When I was a 19 year-old student-athlete at Gettysburg College, I’d had 2 years of too many literature courses for my taste. I realized I didn’t want to be an English major after all - I wanted to do more writing that reading.
The problem was that Gettysburg didn’t offer an type of writing major. I went to my Creative Writing professor, Deborah Larsen with my dilemma. Her solution, “Let’s make it up.” As in, let’s develop a Creative Writing major of one, just me.
And so we did. Every week, I met with Professor Larsen. And at the end of each semester, I met with a few other professors in the English Department or some administrative staff in an office which I can’t remember the name of.
What a terrible allocation of resources this was for the college! One student, taking up an hour every week of a professor and a few more hours every semester of other staff.
My take on this now is: thank you Gettysburg! You gave me the experience I was deeply interested in, despite the fact that I was the only one.
Educating Student-Athletes Who Really Want
When NIL first became a reality in 2021, universities rushed to implement education programs for their student-athletes. The idea was noble: arm every athlete with the knowledge to navigate this new world of opportunity. But three years later, it’s clear we’ve been doing it wrong.
The truth? Not every student-athlete is interested in NIL—and that’s okay. Yet, schools often treat NIL education like a required class instead of an elective. The result? Wasted resources, disengaged students, and frustrated athletic administrators.
Instead, NIL education works best when approached like an independent study—tailored, flexible, and reserved for those who genuinely want to lean in. Here’s what we’ve learned:
Lesson 1: Not Every Athlete Wants NIL
Blanket NIL education doesn’t work because not every athlete is interested in leveraging their name, image, and likeness. For some, their focus is purely on their sport or academics. And that’s perfectly fine.
However, there’s still value in providing a baseline understanding of NIL to all athletes. Everyone should know the basics:
How to build am NIL-centric personal brand.
How to develop an effective social media presence for NIL.
How to market/sell their NIL.
But beyond this baseline, resources should go to the athletes who genuinely want to engage in NIL opportunities.
Lesson 2: Individual Support Yields the Best Results
For the athletes who do want to participate, one thing is clear: each of them is unique.
This week, I worked with 3 student-athletes at one of my DI mid-major university clients:
“T” is a men’s lacrosse player, in conversation with a local spa company and needed help with a formal proposal.
“L” is a women’s soccer athlete who wanted to brainstorm on developing her own merchandise brand.
“M” is a women’s lacrosse player who is interested in NIL, but doesn’t want to focus on social media and needed help identifying other opportunities.
These athletes needed individualized support - it’s costly and inefficient. It’s a “waste” of resources, but it works. The greatest NIL success stories come from programs that invest in 1:1 coaching and guidance for motivated athletes.
Lesson 3: Practical Recommendations
Here’s how athletic departments can rethink their approach to NIL education:
Identify Interest Early: Ask student-athletes about their interest and NIL goals - and bring only those athletes into an NIL program.
Offer NIL “Office Hours”: Host weekly (or monthly) drop-in sessions where athletes can get personalized advice and coaching. (I provide an outsourced version of this, but many schools can identify a resource internally.)
Modify Your Metrics: It’s quality over quantity. Educating every student-athlete will have less impact than educating fewer, better.
Closing Thought
NIL education isn’t about teaching everyone everything—it’s about empowering the right athletes to succeed. The athletes who take ownership of their NIL journey are the ones who see real results.
By shifting our focus from blanket education to personalized support, we’re not only maximizing resources but also setting up these student-athletes for true success, both on and off the field.
Let’s rethink NIL education. Quality over quantity.
Bill Carter is a leading NIL educator and consultant and founder of Student-Athlete Insights. He provides digital courses, live workshops, and consulting to help High School & College Athletes to turn their NIL into income. Bill can be contacted at bill@studentathleteinsights.com.