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In 2008, Syracuse freshman Donté Greene mulled over his decision on whether to stay at SU for another year or declare for the NBA draft. In an effort to poke fun at Greene’s impending decision, then-SU student Ian Wishingrad had an idea.

“I thought of a funny idea to make a shirt where I moved the accent and turned it into an apostrophe, and the shirt said ‘Don’te leave,’” Wishingrad said. “(Greene) wore it during warmups in front of 33,000 people in the Carrier Dome during ESPN GameDay against Georgetown, so it blew up.”

The shirts were a hit and began to sell like crazy, Wishingrad said. The then-senior loved how successful his shirts were, even though Greene ended up declaring for the NBA draft. But three weeks before graduation, Wishingrad received a cease and desist letter from Syracuse University lawyers, he said.

“I was sh*tting my pants, like ‘oh my God,’” Wishingrad said. “(The) last thing I wanted to do was struggle to graduate or something, so I immediately stopped doing the T-shirt thing.”

Fast forward to 2021, and with the introduction of name, image and likeness, Wishingrad would’ve been able to continue selling those shirts as long as he made a deal with Greene and didn’t use any university trademarks.

Now, Wishingrad is the co-founder of Three Wishes Cereal, which filmed an advertisement with current SU star Buddy Boeheim. Cicero native Danny Drake, who co-founded Enduraphin, also partners with Buddy. On Marshall Street, clothing store Manny’s has also benefited, as it can now sell NIL merchandise in stores and online. 

We’re thrilled to begin working alongside you guys, the athletes, as we continue to innovate the landscape of performance nutrition.

We COULD NOT BE anymore excited to welcome our first NIL Athlete to the team. The hometown kid, 315 :tangerine:, walking bucket @Buddy_Boeheim35.

2 of 3 pic.twitter.com/DVg1ZsmSDL

— Enduraphin (@enduraphin) July 16, 2021

Drake grew up a huge Syracuse fan and remembers watching the 2003 NCAA Championship run when he was young. In 2018, Drake and his childhood friend Mike Dalberth began Enduraphin, a sports nutrition company that sells protein shakes. Enduraphin’s patented PHINTECH bottles allow users to add water and shake for a readymade protein shake.

When the two were creating the product, they sent samples to strength and conditioning coaches around the country. One sample ended up at Syracuse, and by summer 2019, Buddy was using Enduraphin. Now, the company’s core business is selling to universities and professional teams, Drake said. Two years later, once NIL came into effect, Buddy liked the product so much that he reached out to Enduraphin to go from a user of their product to a brand ambassador. 

The deal came together pretty quickly, Drake said, and from Enduraphin’s point of view, signing a player of Buddy’s caliber fulfilled one of its business goals of increasing exposure to other athletes and fans.

Getting that exposure is one reason why a local brand might choose to partner with a player rather than the university, said David Meluni, an assistant teaching professor in the sport management program at Falk College.

“If you have a local brand that wants to affiliate with Syracuse Athletics may be in the past … it was a little bit too expensive,” Meluni said. “But now you can position yourself with an athlete. It’s giving brands an opportunity.”

Partnering with either a school or player is “super valuable,” and Enduraphin’s social media platforms have grown significantly after signing Buddy, Drake said. For a young company, Drake said NIL has been a “continuing learning process” for Enduraphin, but as the company grows, it hasn’t forgotten its hometown roots.

“We’re actively looking to grow that side of our business, and hometown athletes are really who we want to help grow,” Drake said. 

Like with Enduraphin, NIL has changed how Syracuse staple Manny’s finds new opportunities. The company is licensed to sell Syracuse merchandise — which it’s been doing for years — but general manager Mike Theiss said customers have always wanted one item in particular: player jerseys.

“I can’t tell you how many times in the last 10 years people come in the store, and they’re looking for a player’s T-shirt or jersey with their name on it,” Theiss said. “We’ve never been able to do that before.”

One of Manny’s vendors, Retro Brand, has provided the store with Carmelo Anthony, Pearl Washington and other former players’ jerseys in the past. But now, Theiss said he was able to put the Boeheim family in touch with Retro Brand to print Buddy’s jerseys that customers can now purchase at Manny’s.

And a week before Syracuse football hosted Clemson, Manny’s was able to broker a deal of their own with star running back Sean Tucker. Tucker’s father, Steve, contacted Manny’s about a potential deal, but with just a week before the game, Theiss said he knew they had to move fast.

In normal circumstances, Theiss said he might’ve sent the Tuckers to Retro Brand, like the Boeheims, though that process would’ve taken at least three weeks. But Manny’s happened to have blank T-shirts stocked in their warehouse and soon made a deal with Tucker and SU since the shirts featured the trademarked block “S.”

Theiss said the shirts sold well, and Tucker jerseys are something the store will be working on for next year. Overall, the player merchandise sells well, Theiss said, but without NIL, Syracuse fans wouldn’t even see Buddy or Tucker jerseys available on Marshall Street. 

Before NIL, the larger companies would be the only ones able to afford partnerships with universities and their athletes. But as the process continues to grow, whether it’s up-and-coming brands like Enduraphin or long-established staples like Manny’s, local businesses now have a chance to compete with bigger brands, all with the help of players like Buddy and Tucker.

Published on December 8, 2021 at 10:41 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu