Administrator shares navigating Jared McCain's NIL journey in high school on CIF Southern Section Sitdown

Jared McCain had deals with Champs and Crocs when he was in high school.

Alexis Barile, a public school administrator in Southern California, talks about navigating Jared McCain's NIL journey in high school. / Taylor Martinez

The NIL landscape is relatively new, especially in high school athletics.

How an athlete can profit off his or her name, image and likeness (NIL) is a question many student-athletes, families and administrators are asking themselves - but the answer serves a different purpose for each of those groups.

For athletes and families, it's about making money within the rules. For coaches and administrators, it's about navigating the new NIL world as it pertains to their program and/or school.

Dr. Alexis Barile was a principal at Corona Centennial High in California for six years where she helped to navigate NIL with one of the nation's most popular high school athletes in McDonald's All-American Jared McCain, who went on to standout at Duke and was recently drafted to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.

Dr. Barile spoke about that journey with SBLive's Tarek Fattal on the CIF Southern Section Sitdown.

McCain was a two-time California Gatorade Player of the Year for the Huskies and along the way became a TikTok dancing sensation, growing his fanbase on TikTok and Instagram into the millions.

That following equates to value. Monetary value. But how a student-athlete in the CIF Southern Section, which does allow its athletes to participate in NIL deals, goes about participating in an NIL deal comes with its parameters.

Dr. Barile highlights the challenges and opportunities of NIL, using Jared McCain as an example, emphasizing the importance of balancing personal branding with school integrity. She also touches on the evolving role of social media in athletics and the need for responsible digital citizenship.

FULL EPISODE

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