(From The Athletic)
While the rest of his teammates are soaking up the sun on a team trip to paradise, Kentucky’s Congolese basketball star Oscar Tshiebwe is packing an all-out NIL blitz into one week in the Bahamas.
Why? The reigning national player of the year is restricted in what he can do stateside on a student visa. So with the program’s blessing, he took things international. The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker has the incredible details of Tshiebwe’s business trip:
This type of trip, however, is a temporary holdover as Tshiebwe has applied to change his visa status to a type granted to international celebrities. But it's a microcosm of what could come — both for Tshiebwe and the rest of the big men eschewing the NBA Draft for lucrative college careers.
While the rest of his teammates are soaking up the sun on a team trip to paradise, Kentucky’s Congolese basketball star Oscar Tshiebwe is packing an all-out NIL blitz into one week in the Bahamas.
Why? The reigning national player of the year is restricted in what he can do stateside on a student visa. So with the program’s blessing, he took things international. The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker has the incredible details of Tshiebwe’s business trip:
- He has NIL obligations every day, including photoshoots, ad reads and merchandise signings and did promotional work for four different companies before he even unpacked his suitcase on day one.
- He has about 2,000 Topps trading cards and a stack of other memorabilia in his hotel room that he’ll have to sign.
- Tshiebwe stands to make about $500,000 in seven days — bringing his total NIL earnings to about $2.75 million, a source told Tucker.
This type of trip, however, is a temporary holdover as Tshiebwe has applied to change his visa status to a type granted to international celebrities. But it's a microcosm of what could come — both for Tshiebwe and the rest of the big men eschewing the NBA Draft for lucrative college careers.
