Several area athletes are on the cutting edge of new NIL sponsorships
Sebastian Wilson has always been ahead of the curve.
In an era when college programs in all sports are increasingly reliant on the transfer portal and prep athletes have a harder time getting noticed, Wilson wrapped up his recruiting well before he entered high school.
The sophomore outfielder/pitcher at Lane committed to reigning national champion Tennessee the summer before his eighth-grade year.
Now, Wilson is a trailblazer in two more areas that are familiar to college athletes, but not to their high-school counterparts.
He has launched a nonprofit, the Sushi Wilson Dream Big Foundation, that aims to break down barriers for kids wanting to play baseball in Chicago. And he's taking advantage of the NIL (name, image and likeness) sponsorship opportunities newly available for prep athletes.
The foundation's name, and Wilson's nickname, goes back to when he was playing travel ball years ago and went 0-for-3 in the first of a three-game day.
"Between games, my dad asked if I wanted sushi," Wilson said. "I went 3-for-6 with two homers [in the next game] and everybody just started shouting, 'Sushi!'"
The nickname stuck and so did his snack preference, a modified "sushi" of avocado and cucumber rolls.
So it was an obvious name for the foundation, which Wilson got the idea for when he arrived at Lane last fall.
For a few years, Champions coach Sean Freeman has taken players to work with athletes in the Horner Park Challenger League for kids with physical and intellectual challenges.
"Coach Freeman asked if anyone wanted to volunteer with the Challenger League," Wilson said. "I actually fell in love with doing it, seeing the smiles on the kids' faces."
He organized an event to give backpacks and sunglasses to the Horner Park players and has more plans for later this year, including a toy drive around the holidays.
How does he juggle this with a national travel-ball schedule?
"I just make time," Wilson said, "if it's not just hanging out with friends or doing things kids do like play video games."
A MaxPreps Freshman All-American this past season, he's also leveraging his success in the NIL arena. He has partnerships with Homewood Bat Company; Rapsodo, which makes tech to help measure baseball analytics; and ProSway batting gloves.
Former Butler girls basketball player Xamiya Walton, now an incoming freshman at Northwestern, became the first Illinois prep athlete with a NIL deal two years ago when she partnered with equipment maker Shoot-A-Way. Wilson expects much more of the same.
"I feel like it's going to grow a lot bigger," Wilson said. "Companies are going to see that kids have huge platforms. Some states are opening up to it [more], like Florida."
Closer to home, four Morgan Park football players also are on board. Rising seniors Jovan Clark, Jahmere Washington and Marcus Thaxton, along with incoming junior Nasir Rankin, are partnering with Raising Cane's restaurants.
"It's definitely exciting, it's definitely a blessing," said Clark, a defensive back committed to Wyoming. "That's a place we go anyway to eat. This, I feel like, will open up a lot of doors for more NIL deals."
Rankin, a four-star defensive back who's the state's No. 1 prospect in the class of 2026, has seen the surging popularity of NIL deals at the college level.
"It's crazy to think that I'm part of it now," Rankin said. "It's going to get bigger and bigger [at the high-school level]."
In fact, Rankin -- who's also a high-level basketball prospect -- has additional deals with McDavid USA, which makes basketball braces and protective gear; Shot Doctor basketball training; and Cutter Sports, a maker of football gloves.
Navigating this new landscape isn't something the athletes are doing alone. Wilson works with professional advisers, while Rankin leans on someone close to home to vet proposals that come his way.
"My dad walks me through everything, makes sure everything sounds good," Rankin said.