Dayton, Wright State basketball players earn joint NIL deal

Matt Farrell, a member of the Catholic Social Services development committee, helped arrange the appearances, which are being sponsored by Grunder Landscaping, of Miamisburg.

“I think the thing that’s interesting is this is kind of a joint appearance by Dayton and Wright State players,” Farrell said. “I don’t know how many of those there are going to be. We’ve got probably the three biggest names on Wright State’s roster in Grant and Tanner and Tim, and I think this is the first deal that those guys have done under name, image, likeness. And they’ll do it alongside Elijah, who is probably one of the more recognizable faces and names from last year’s Dayton roster, and Lynn and DaRon, two of the new faces who I think are going to have a big impact this year.”

Farrell said Mike Lehner, director of marketing and development for CCSMV, had the idea of trying to get players out from both teams. Farrell suggested they give the players an incentive to come by paying them, which would not have been possible before the NCAA changed its rules in June.

Farrell was also involved in the first NLI deal for Dayton men’s basketball players, who were paid to endorse an apartment for rent. As in that instance, the players used their Instagram accounts to publicize the deal. Basile was the first to share a photo from CCSMV on Instagram with details about the celebration. At the top of the post, the words “paid partnership” indicated he was being compensated for sharing the photo.

Farrell said the players were excited to get the chance to appear at the event. He expects other players to be involved in future deals, but this wasn’t an event where it made sense to bring the entire roster from both teams.

“These are just high-level young men who want to give back,” he said. “They want to have an impact. They want to be able to interact with the community that they call home. It’s a way for them to get out and meet fans. They love these opportunities. I think there are unique opportunities for businesses and other events and non nonprofits to do this. It’s still in a unique space. I think what used to be a favor can now be something we can create a business transaction around, which we couldn’t do previously.”

While scheduling these type of opportunities will be more difficult when preseason practices begin later this month and the season begins in November, there also likely will be more NIL chances for local college basketball players in the coming months.

“Their primary focus is being student athletes,” Farrell said, “both in the classroom and in on the court. But I think there are windows where these things can be possible.”

In addition to the home run derby, which starts at 11 a.m. with a qualifying round, there will be other kid-friendly activities presented by Scene 75, Raise Your Brush, the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, and Event Drop at the Centennial Celebration.

There will be live entertainment from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. by local performers, and three bands will perform in the evening: Casino Tight at 5:45 p.m.; Stranger at 7 p.m.; and Bluewater Kings at 9 p.m.

The event also includes food trucks, a wine garden and “Dayton’s Biggest Fish Fry,” which will feature the Corpus Christi Fryers and Hechts’ Frying Fish.