Top 2025 recruits Jaime Ffrench and Vernell Brown are making NIL history in Florida.
The pair of wide receivers inked NIL deals with American Eagle, according to a post on X from their 7-on-7 program South Florida Express. The move comes Tuesday, hours after the Florida High School Athletic Association Board of Directors passed sweeping bylaw changes to allow name, image and likeness activities for its student-athletes without forfeiting the ability to play high school sports.
The new policy passed by a unanimous vote and after 45 minutes of additional debate, including from a coach who spoke about his opposition to the new bylaw. The measure takes effect in time for the 2024-25 high school season.
Ffrench is a five-star recruit in the 2025 class and coming off a trip to LSU over the weekend. Texas is thought to be the leader at the moment for the 6-foot-1, 184-pound receiver. His 7-on-7 teammate, Brown is a four-star recruit and top-100 prospect.
Will NIL play factor in decisions?
Ohio State is looked at as the favorite in the race to land Vernell Brown coming off the receiver’s trip to Columbus this past weekend. Both top-100 prospects, Ffrench and Brown are two of the first high school athletes to ink NIL deals in Florida. They also attended the On3 Elite Series, a seminar educating the top 2025 high school football recruits on NIL, entrepreneurship, and planning for life after football, took place in Nashville last week.
“You want to get taken care of anywhere you go, that’s just a big thing in college football now,” Ffrench told On3 last week. “So you want to make sure that’s a piece of it but also want to be sure you take care of the on-field stuff.”
American Eagle has previously worked with Ohio State players TreVeyon Hendersonand Denzel Burke back in July 2022. The company also recently partnered with Five-Star Plus+ freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith in a deal facilitated by The Foundation, an Ohio State-focused collective.
Where is NIL allowed on high school level?
With Florida’s change, 36 local athletic associations now allow student-athletes to participate in NIL deals on the high school level. The Sunshine State is a perennial producer of top high school recruits across multiple sports. Florida’s 2025 class in football alone has four five-star prospects – including the nation’s No. 1 linebacker in Solomon Thomas – and there are 56 players ranked four stars or higher. Florida’s 2025 class in basketball features two five-stars, including Five-Star Plus+ standout Cameron Boozer.
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