AXIA Time, NIL Store Launch Watch to Celebrate Purdue's Zach Edey
The NIL collectibles market continues to boom. Sport memorabilia companies have begun investing heavily in limited-run NIL merchandise, and collectors have snapped to pick up these pieces, seeing the long-term value in rare NIL collectibles. A one-of-one Caitlin Clark NIL card sold for $78,000, and a similar on-of-one Arch Manning card broke the Panini auction record at $102,500. Now, it is Zach Edey’s turn to sell limited merchandise.
While the Purdue center has yet to have a limited sports card reach the five-figure threshold, through his partnership with the Purdue NIL Store, the back-to-back Naismith Player of the Year is releasing a unique product: a 150-piece limited-run watch commemorating his historic two-year run. The only other players to win multiple Naismith Awards are NBA Hall of Fame centers Bill Walton and Ralph Sampson –– not bad company.
The limited edition watch will be from AXIA, which, in a newly minted partnership, is the “Official Timepiece of The Naismith Awards.” The watch will sell for $1,500 on both the Purdue NIL Store - exclusively for the first 48 hours - and the AXIA website. It comes with an autographed wood display box and a custom engraving.
"Each aspect of the watch represents all who helped me on my journey: teammates, coaches, family, friends and fans," Edey said in a statement. "None of the success we had could have been possible without them."
"Zach's accomplishments on the court the past two seasons have been remarkable, putting him in elite company in terms of Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy repeat winners," said Eric Oberman, president of the Atlanta Tipoff Club, the nonprofit organization that manages the Naismith Awards. "It seems only fitting that he is involved in this timepiece to mark this moment."
The NIL Store further provides details of the watch: “The design of Zach Edey Purdue Naismith Limited Edition Commemorative Timepiece timepiece focuses on the logos and colors of Purdue and Naismith with additional details that make it extra special for the Boilermaker faithful: A chapter ring that reads “15 BACK TO BACK” around the hour marks, the Naismith player icon embossed on the dial and crown, and the Purdue P on the steel bracelet buckle. This Swiss made automatic (self-winding) timepiece features a 43.5mm brushed stainless-steel case with a screw-down crown.”
The unique partnership between AXIA and the Purdue NIL Store will turn heads. The Purdue NIL Store is one of many Campus Ink’s NIL Store Network storefronts. With Duke, UConn, and Iowa also a part of the NIL Store network, can we see other Naismith Award winners: Cooper Flagg, Dan Hurley, and Caitlin Clark enshrined similarly? It certainly appears the collectibles market is craving it.