PORTLAND, Oregon — When Jackson Shelstad is on the basketball court, people watch. The senior point guard from West Linn High School is going places. Next year, he’s heading to the University of Oregon but this week, he’s heading to the bank.
On Thursday Shelstad, along with Jesuit High School basketball star and fellow Oregon recruit Sofia Bell, each signed name, image, likeness (NIL) deals with Portland Gear.
They're the first Oregon high school students to do that since the Oregon School Activities Association clarified its rules around NIL this month.
“We wanted to jump in,” said Portland Gear owner, Marcus Harvey. “We thought it would be cool to be the first and we got to do a fun little deal with them."
Harvey didn't waste any time updating Portland Gear's website. The home page now features Shelstad and Bell’s new custom T-shirts with their names, jersey numbers and Portland Gear's trademark “P.”
Harvey said the deal gives both students a mix of monetary and product benefits and Portland Gear wins, too.
“For us it's authentic, these are regional kids that have grown up and played basketball here,” said Harvey. “It's a fun story to tell, it amplifies them and their voices. We get to hook them up with cool products, they get to wear our gear and rock it with pride.”
Shelstad said he’s thrilled to be a part of the NIL deal and to be able to represent himself and benefit from his accomplishments in this way.
“Kids younger than me hopefully looking up will see that I'm doing it and they can do it too, just gotta work hard,” said Shelstad. “I just want to represent my state.”
Oregon is now one of about 20 states in the country that allow high school students to profit off their name, image and likeness.
Last week the OSAA voted to amend its rules, clarifying that its now okay for students in Oregon to do that.
“It's a change, that's for sure, it's a big change,” said OSAA Executive Director Peter Weber. He clarified that students can't feature their school's name or logo in products they endorse and there are restrictions on payment.
“You know the compensation can't be, for example, contingent on a specific athletic performance, like if you score this many points you're going to receive this from NIL."