NIL Lessons from a D3 Athlete
Learning from a D3 walk-on turned team captain who has made NIL work
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Today, we’re sharing our interview with a current D3 athlete with an interesting story. He went from walk-on to team captain and is now building a brand that’s helping him have success with NIL deals.
ICYMI, here’s the last D3 NIL Interview we did - with an athlete who has since signed a new deal with Chopt Salads.
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Bryan Moussako - NYU Men’s Basketball Team Captain
NYU men’s basketball team captain Bryan Moussako has a unique D3 journey.
He had limited recruiting interest coming out of High School in New Jersey, so decided to try and walk-on to the basketball team at D3 Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.
Unfortunately, he was cut from the team and left with a difficult choice: To stay at F&M and try again or to pursue other options to play basketball in college.
Eventually he found NYU and Coach Dave Klatsky and after getting into the school he became the team’s manager.
After two years of hard work he got the call up from Coach Klatsky and became a full member of the team (here’s a video of the call-up) - even playing in the team’s NCAA tournament run to the National Championship game.
Now, Bryan is NYU’s team captain and playing well in his senior season, averaging just over 11 points per game and shooting nearly 44% from 3 point range.
In addition to his on-court success, he’s also starting to get traction with NIL - demonstrating that D3 athletes can combine high-level performance with meaningful business opportunities.
We sat down with Bryan to learn more about his D3 NIL work and get his advice for other D3 athletes who want to follow in his footsteps.
D3 NIL Interview with Bryan
Thanks for joining us Bryan! To get started, what advice do you have for a D3 athlete who is just starting out with NIL?
I think the biggest thing about NIL is that it’s similar to getting a job. You can reach out to companies for opportunity similarly as well. I think approaching reaching out with confidence and belief in your work makes it a positive experience.
Favorite NIL deal you signed so far?
I’ve worked with a lot of people since I started posting consistently. In The Lab, Hoopfuel, and probably my favorite one I am working on right now is Gymshark. This is the first one where I am getting paid and getting a product so it’s a really cool experience.
Was there something you did differently with Gymshark that enabled you to be compensated more or was it just a better partnership offer because your audience had gotten bigger?
So they actually reached out to me over DM. I think as my audience grew bigger that gained their attention. They were also specifically looking for NYU students and they said my page was one of the pages they saw when looking for that.
Want More D3 NIL Content
Here’s a video recap of our interview with Jair Knight, including the strategies that he’s using to help land NIL deals as a D3 athlete.
We’ve added all of his takeaways, plus lessons from seven other D3 athletes we interviewed to a new D3 NIL module in the D3 Recruiting Playbook.
Strategies that worked for you when reaching out to brands?
I think just being able to explain why me? I think the “why me” piece for your brand has been something I’ve constantly had to refine but I have been getting a lot better at it.
What is one element of your “why me”?
My story is a big part of my “why me”. Going from team manager to team captain has been a big part of that and has helped people resonate with me more.
Lessons or personal growth from your NIL/brand work?
Even though it’s good to get offers, it’s also important to connect with brands that actually resonate with yourself and your audience.
One brand you’d love to work with & why?
Black Forest Gummy Bears, that stuff is the truth!
Could you clarify what you are going to try to get their attention? Or a strategy that is already in action?
Same as I would reach out to any other company just being myself, showing my Instagram story and offering to collaborate with them through UGC (User-generated content).
Total # of NIL Deals and Amounts earned so far?
5 NIL deals signed so far
$580 in my own earnings from brand work
$2500 worth of free product from brands
Potential additional earnings based on how branded posts perform
Closing thoughts?
There are many opportunities in D3 regardless of level. Most people’s dreams are to play college basketball, so even just being able to show my day-to-day as one is something very fulfilling, and I think more people should!
Thanks Bryan!
Take Charge of Your Recruiting Process
Parents, your job isn’t to get your kid recruited. It’s to make sure they’re prepared for the process.
The D3 Recruiting Playbook shows you how…
Thanks for Reading!
As always, if there is another topic you want to see covered let us know and we’ll address it in a future post or video.
See you Sunday for more Scholarships!
-D3Direct