Ohio State freshman WR Chris Henry Jr. signs NIL deal with Nike

Ohio State freshman 5-star receiver Chris Henry Jr. has signed an NIL deal with Nike. He joins running back Bo Jackson and safety Jermaine Mathews Jr. as the three OSU players who have deals with the shoe giant. It is notable because Henry originally signed with Adidas in high school, but will don the checkmark now that he is with the Scarlet and Gray, a Nike-sponsored school.

The news isn’t too significant; players sign NIL deals all the time, even with Nike, but it is interesting because of what has been reported recently in the recruiting battle between Ohio State and Tennessee for the services of five-star running back David Gabriel Georges. The Vols have reportedly offered a pretty sweet NIL deal, with presumably Adidas sweetening the pot, but according to reporting from Jeremy Birmingham, when OSU asked Nike for the same thing, the Buckeyes were denied.

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Nike does not make a habit of making huge NIL deals until the athletes are in college (though it does make modest deals with high school players), and that appears to be what we have here. Nike announced eight other college football NIL deals, including Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, Texas wide receiver Cam Coleman and defensive end Colin Simmons, Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy, Vanderbilt quarterback Jared Curtis and LSU tight end Trey’Dez Green.