Kansas freshman Gradey Dick included on list of college hoops’ most marketable players

Gary Bedore
Gary Bedore, KC Star

Kansas freshman Gradey Dick has been included on ESPN.com’s list of the 25 most marketable college basketball players in terms of money that could be made on potential name, image, likeness deals.

Dick, a 6-foot-8, 205-pound freshman guard out of Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, came in at No. 23 on the list, which was put together by ESPN reporter Myron Medcalf. He explained that the list was produced with “information, assembled from a variety of sources that include (NIL group) Opendorse and social media metrics.”

Dick, a McDonald’s All-American and the 2022 Gatorade national high school basketball player of the year, in May signed a deal with WME, a major management firm/talent agency that said in a news release it would represent Dick in “all of his off-court marketing NIL endeavors including brand partnerships, digital content development and more.”

Of Wichita native Dick’s selection at No. 23, ESPN’s Medcalf wrote: “The McDonald’s All-American became the first Kansas player to sign with a major management firm (WME) before he ever enrolled in college. His nearly 150,000 followers on social media should only increase when he finally takes the court for the reigning men’s national champs in Lawrence.”

The No. 1 player on the list, which was released last week, was South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston.

“The most dominant force in women’s college basketball (16.8 PPG, 12.5 RPG in 2021-22) has picked up NIL deals from major brands Bose, Crocs, Under Armour and Bojangles in the past year, some of them coming even before she led the Gamecocks to the 2022 national championship,” Medcalf wrote.

“With 107,000 followers on Instagram, Boston, the reigning women’s Wooden Award winner, is now represented by Klutch Sports — the same group that represents LeBron James, and will only continue to boost her brand during the 2022-23 season.”

Twins Hanna and Haley Cavinder (Miami) ranked second on the most marketable player list, followed by:

  • Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky)

  • Caitlin Clark (Iowa)

  • Hailey Van Lith (Louisville)

  • Shaqir O’Neal (Texas Southern)

  • Amari Bailey (UCLA)

  • Azzi Fudd (UConn)

  • Sedona Prince (Oregon)

  • Drew Timme (Gonzaga)

  • Haley Jones (Stanford)

  • Emoni Bates (Eastern Michigan)

  • Deja Kelly (North Carolina)

  • Armondo Bacot (North Carolina)

  • Tie: Dereck Lively and Dariq Whitehead (Duke)

  • Angel Reese (LSU)

  • Zia Cooke (South Carolina)

  • Jahvon Quinerly (Alabama)

  • Hercy Miller (Louisville)

  • G.G. Jackson (South Carolina)

  • Doug Edert (Bryant)

  • Hunter Dickinson (Michigan)

  • Gradey Dick (Kansas)

  • Jaden Owens (Baylor)

  • Rori Harmon (Texas).

KU associate AD joins Mass Strategies

In other NIL news, Dan Beckler, KU’s senior associate athletic director/strategic communications and external initiatives, has left his post with the Jayhawk athletic department to become president and chief operating officer for Mass Strategies.

Mass Strategies is the NIL collective started by former KU baseball player and Williams Fund director Matt Baty and Baty’s brother, former KU baseball player Ryan Baty. Mass Strategies works with KU athletes on their NIL opportunities.

Beckler, a Wichita native, arrived at KU in September of 2019 after working in the front office of the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL. KU is currently looking for a replacement for Beckler at associate AD.

“Dan was a tremendous help to me when I was at KU and I know he will be a major asset to Mass St. Collective in this new role. Big things on the horizon for KU hoops players with NIL!” former KU guard Ochai Agbaji said in a news release.

Also … KU last week announced a partnership with Opendorse, a group considered the leading NIL marketplace and technology company. KU Athletics has also announced the hiring of Casey Seberger and Tate Gillespie as NIL directors for the athletic department.

KU projected to be 2 seed by CBS

Kansas is projected to be a 2 seed in the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, according to Jerry Palm of CBSsports.com.

Gonzaga is No. 1 seed in the West and the overall 1 seed. Other No. 1 seeds: Houston (Midwest), North Carolina (East) and Kentucky (South).

KU is projected as the 2 seed in the Midwest Regional, a regional that feeds into Kansas City’s T Mobile Center for the regional semifinals and finals.

UCLA is listed 2 seed in the West, Baylor 2 in the East and Creighton No, 2 in the South.

Palm has KU playing No. 15 seed Oakland in a first-round game in Des Moines, Iowa.

Out of the Big 12 … Texas is a 4 seed in the West, TCU a 4 seed in the South, Oklahoma State a 10 seed in the West, Texas Tech a 7 seed in the South and West Virginia a 12 seed in the West.

Palm says Big 12 teams Kansas State, Iowa State and Oklahoma will not make the tourney. He also has Wichita State and Missouri missing out on tourney bids.

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