Ruling clears way for student-athletes to profit from NIL

RALEIGH — A judge in North Carolina has cleared the way for the state’s public-school athletes to profit off their fame in a court case involving a high school football player who has committed to play at Tennessee.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Graham Shirley on Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit challenging the state’s restrictions on athletes cashing in on use of their name, image and likeness, usually known as NIL. Rolanda Brandon filed the complaint on behalf of her son, Greensboro Grimsley High School quarterback Faizon Brandon, who is the nation’s top-ranked recruit in the class of 2026, according to 247Sports.

The lawsuit had named the state Board of Education as a defendant tied to a policy it adopted in June. The injunction would block the board’s prohibition once the judge’s written order is signed.

Family attorney Mike Ingersoll told WRAL-TV of Raleigh that he hopes to draft an order for the judge to sign by the end of the week.

“It’s been a long and hard fight, but we are grateful to God that justice has been served, not only for Faizon but for all public high school students in North Carolina,” Rolanda said in a statement to WRAL and The Charlotte Observer.

The complaint had stated that “a prominent national trading card company” had agreed to pay for Faizon to sign memorabilia before graduation, offering the family “with financial security for years to come.”

However, North Carolina has been among the minority of states that don’t permit NIL activities such as endorsements for public appearances at camps or autograph signings — all of which have become commonplace at the college level.

That restriction, however, doesn’t apply to private-school athletes such as fellow five-star prospect and Tennessee recruit David Sanders Jr. out of Charlotte’s Providence Day School. Sanders has a website dedicated to selling merchandise with his image.