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Paolo Banchero’s Latest NIL Deal

A bit of spending money for Duke’s rising star

NCAA Basketball: Wake Forest at Duke
Feb 15, 2022; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Paolo Banchero (5) reacts to scoring a three point basket during the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils won 76-74.
Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

If an enterprising student were smart, clever and perhaps lucky, he or she might be able to tap into the NIL gravy train.

We say that because of Paolo Banchero’s latest NIL deal, with JD Sports and because it’s a 15 second spot on Instagram.

Someone who is really tuned into social media and has a thorough understanding of the market and who is on a campus could probably be in a position to do things that few could. Who knows? It might lead to an interesting career.

On the other hand, the time for that may have been fleeting and has probably already passed. The professionals are long since involved as we see in this ad, which is international.

That makes us think of something else though. As you may remember, Kobe Bryant largely grew up in Italy and spoke flawless Italian. He must have have had huge marketing opportunities in Italy.

We don’t know if Banchero speaks Italian or not, but if he doesn’t, it might be a good business decision to learn. Clearly he has international opportunities - we just saw that in this ad. His opportunities in Italy in particular though, with his name and background, could be worth millions.