Arizona High Schooler Suspended for NIL Merchandise, Who is to Blame?

Rising senior offensive lineman Camren Durfee's suspension raises question of what responsibility schools and companies have in preventing NIL violations.

November 1, 2022; Peoria, Ariz; USA; Centennial head coach Richard Taylor works with his team during a practice at Centennial High School. High School Football Centennial Football / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY

Camren Durfee is a 6’1” 305 lbs. Offensive Lineman from Peoria, AZ, and one of the most sympathetic violators of NIL regulation you will ever encounter. Last season, the then-junior at Centennial High School in Peoria, AZ, attempted to enter a partnership with Hypelete, a company that provides NIL merchandising opportunities for individual athletes. According to an interview between Durfee and the Glendale Independent, the rising senior said he was inspired to partner with the company to make NIL merchandise after viewing a post from Hypelete on Instagram. 

Within a day, he had a fully functional product on their website bearing his NIL and school insignia. According to the same report, the sixteen-year-old Durfee only gave a verbal yes to the agreement with Hypelete. There was no contract describing a royalty agreement or any other details of Intellectual Property considerations. No parental authorization was initiated by Hypelete—the age of majority in the state of Arizona is eighteen.   

High School NIL remains fractured. Currently, 33 states and the District of Columbia permit prep athletes to engage in Name, Image, and Likeness transactions. Unlike collegiate NIL, which is governed by state law, virtually every state’s prep-NIL regulations are governed by the respective jurisdictions’ high school athletic associations. Arizona is one of the seventeen states forbidding its prep athletes from engaging in the now ubiquitous NIL economy. Arizona Interscholastic Association Constitution, Bylaws, Policies, and Procedures § 15.1.1 articulates the current posture of the state:

“Name Image and Likeness (NIL): A student is in violation of this bylaw and shall immediately lose eligibility if that student, his/her family member, or anyone else on behalf of that student, enters into an agreement with an individual, corporate entity, partnership, association, or any other party or organization, for use of that student’s NIL which in any way relates to the student’s connection to his/her high school team or activity program, or to any other non-school athletic team or activity program with which the student is connected.”

The product bearing Durfee’s NIL was quickly discovered by school administrators and promptly removed from the Hypelite website; however, after self-reporting the infraction, Durfee was slapped with a full-season suspension, effectively terminating his final year of high school football. In a statement to the Glendale Independent, Duefee’s mother shed light on how such an innocent mistake could have happened “We’ve had shirts from all of our boys. Our family comes out on Friday nights and wears them. Our oldest son even played a year at Scottsdale (Community College) and we had a shirt with him on the front of it.” In a hearing regarding an appeal of the punishment, the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) reduced the suspension to only two games.

In the pre-NIL era, shirts bearing the NIL of players were not uncommon at the high school level, and so long as they were homemade, non-commercial, and did not infringe any marks of the school, such merchandise was rarely, if ever, the subject of scrutiny. This past practice indicates that for many who have grown up in amateur football, the new modalities of NIL merchandising appear to be parallel to the now antiquated form of individual player homemade shirts: what isn’t so intuitive is how the mere act of licensing NIL as a prep athlete in many jurisdictions can jeopardize a career.

Thankfully, the amended suspension allows Durfee to compete in his final high school football season and help the Centennial Coyotes avenge their loss in last year’s AIA Open Division State Championship finals. Beyond the immediate future, the reduced suspension helps the offensive linemen’s long term goals. According to Durfee’s X account, he currently holds several offers to play football at the collegiate level in the fall of 2025 at Division III Universities Lewis and Clark College and Lake Forrest College; in addition, Durfee also holds several offers from NAIA schools. 

After a amazing conversation with @JoeBushman5 i am blessed to recieve an Offer from @LCPiosFB 🟠⚫️ #3!
- @KamrynBennett @CoachThiele @RonTBAOL @lmzworld_ @Cehsfootball @CoachTaylorCeHS @KleeSkegee pic.twitter.com/n9whiKebL6

— Camren Durfee ‘ 25 (@CamrenDurfee_) May 16, 2024

While certain athletes could forgo a senior season and be just fine in recruiting, an athlete in Durfee’s position has everything to lose. Hard work this offseason and a stellar senior campaign could be enough for him to earn a spot to play at the Division I FCS level or earn more attractive Division II or Division III offers. Even the two-game suspension can dampen these chances: a current petition has amassed 686 signatures to urge the AIA to further reduce his punishment.

The biggest question posed by this unfortunate story is who is to blame for such an easily avoidable violation. While some could point to Durfee, I find that analysis completely unfair. The system—AIA, Centennial High School, and Hypelete—all failed him and contributed to endangering his collegiate football career.     

Hypelete, is no different than many opportunists in the NIL space. A novel economy opened, and many have rushed in to grab their market share in a relatively unregulated industry. According to reports, it appears the company had no regulatory procedures in place to ensure that those they partnered with were in compliance with the relevant regulations, nor did they attempt to create a contract. This behavior appears, at the minimum, fishy. When paired with flashy marketing to minors, the ethics of such business procedures are incredibly dangerous.

However, sketchy practices of Hypelete and other players in the NIL industry are not uncommon, and anyone tasked with athletic compliance should be aware that this behavior persists within the industry. The lack of formalized NIL education from Centennial High School and the AIA holds the most fault for this unfortunate situation. With NIL being as pervasive as it is, a commitment to NIL education is imperative. Centennial High School provided a “NIL talk” to its athletes, pointing to large brands offering compensation to be ambassadors, not licensing agreements. Sadly, even this unproductive initiative is more than most high school athletic departments provide regarding NIL information.

In the minority of jurisdictions that continue to forbid NIL engagements for perp athletes, it is imperative that clear and conspicuous NIL education takes place. There are selfish reasons for a school like Centennial to implement stronger NIL education policies. The risk of losing a collegiate-level player in a year when the football team is chasing a state championship is devastating—especially when the infraction is so easily preventable.

Ultimately, every high school (regardless of athletic prowess) and every state athletic association is morally and ethically obligated to ensure NIL education and safeguards. The athletes are the ones hurt the most by a lack of institutional involvement. If an athlete chooses to engage in detrimental behavior, fully knowing that his behavior violates rules, that is a different equation. In the case of athletes like Durfee, the onus of reducing innocent mistakes in an environment where NIL activations have become normalized and readily accessible to youth athletes falls on high school athletic administration –– hopefully, his story changes the way many high schools prioritize NIL education.