Landscape-Altering Ohio Football Recruit Discusses Role of NIL in His Recruitment
With the landscape surrounding amateur athletes receiving compensation continuing to change, it's hard to imagine there are still restrictions that differ from state to state.
Just recently a hotbed for high school athletes, the state of Florida, just became the latest to allow their high schoolers to capitalize on their name, image and likeness if there is a market for them. This has already been taken advantage of by those who have opportunities, showcasing that NIL has a much further reach right now than at just the college level.
But, with there not being a uniform ruling across states about what their high school athletes can do in terms of NIL, and even regarding participation in certain events, that makes the playing field much less even.
Ohio was a state that didn't allow their high school football players to compete in the growing 7-on-7 competitions that have increased in popularity.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) clearly states Ohio high schoolers are prohibited from participating in the below excerpt from their rulebook.
"A member school or program or team in the sports of football may participate with a non-interscholastic program in camps, tryouts, training and/or practices prior to and after the interscholastic team’s season under the following conditions: a.) They may not play in any contest, including 7-on-7 (except between May 15 and July 31). b.) All activities must be non-contact. c.) The only football equipment the player may wear are helmets and cleats."
When five-star safety Trey McNutt was facing a suspension after he played in a 7-on-7 event, he didn't just sit there and take the ruling.
He looked to change the entire landscape.
After being unaware of this rule according to the McNutt family, the elite safety decided to challenge this ruling by continuing to attend these events all over the country with the risk he might get suspended for his upcoming senior season.
This was a chance he was willing to take as he believed it was an archaic rule that put Ohio football players at a disadvantage.
"I'm going to keep doing 7-on-7s because it's what's right and it's the right thing to do because bad things are meant to change. You got to take action for it to change," he told Camryn Justice of ABC News 5 Cleveland back in April.
As a highly-coveted recruit, McNutt could afford to take this risk as he was already on the radar of multiple top programs across the country and wouldn't see his recruitment punished if he was suspended for his final year of high school.
He credits 7-on-7 competitions as a reason for how he became considered an elite recruit, something he knows would benefit other players in the state of Ohio going forward.
"Since I've started playing seven on seven. It's been an uprise in my recruitment and really just me as a person. It's grown me as a person and my personality and meeting new people and just building connections outside of where you live at. Seeing all these other top athletes you're going against, and you're just going against other people at a high caliber level," he said.
Well, it turned out his pushback worked as OHSAA removed many of the restrictions surrounding the participation in these events.
"I definitely just had to stay confident through it. Believe what I believe in. And just know what's right, and that's what I stood on. And really, I knew what I had to do. God told me to just stay focused, and keep a straight line and that's what I did," McNutt told On3 after this decision was made.
The ruling is certainly significant for the future of Ohio football players, but with the elite safety, who's ranked No. 22 in the class of 2025 by On3's Industry Ranking, still searching for the school he will play for at the collegiate level, he now steps into the next phase of his football chapter.
With that, and the notoriety that has come his way through this battle, NIL will certainly be presented to him by programs who are trying to land his commitment.
McNutt shared his thoughts on how big of a role that will play in his recruitment.
"NIL, it could play a part in telling who's the most interested or not, but I don't try and look at NIL too much because I know I'm going to get paid anywhere I go. It's not about the money, it's just about going to play for them," he said.
Right now, On3's Recruiting Prediction Machine gives instate powerhouse Ohio State the best chance to land him at 59.4 percent, followed by Oregon at 24.2 percent.
BRAD WAKAI