GREENSBORO, N.C. — The No. 1 ranked quarterback in the Class of 2026 — Grimsley star Faizon Brandon — is suing the North Carolina State Board of Education over its ban of endorsement deals for student athletes at public high schools.
Family attorney Mike Ingersoll said, "The State Board of Education was asked to create rules allowing public high school athletes to use their NIL—it was not empowered to ban it. We look forward to correcting the State Board's error and to help Faizon benefit from the incredible value and opportunities his hard work and commitment have created for his name, image and likeness."
It's important to note that if the high school star was in a private school, this wouldn't be an issue. That's because the NIL law only impacts public school athletes.
According to attorney Jason Keith, NIL stands for, "Name, image and likeness. That means you can receive money based off your name, Beyonce, your image, what you wear like a model and your likeness, what you stand for."
The complaint was filed Friday in Wake County Superior Court by Rolanda Brandon on behalf of her son, who is still a minor. It states that Brandon "was approached by a prominent national trading card company and presented with an opportunity to provide a certain volume of signed memorabilia prior to his high school graduation."
Additionally, the complaint suggests that the cost of turning down the trading card deal is "potentially millions of dollars that Brandon has no guarantee of ever recouping."
The lawsuit said this opportunity is life changing and would provide Brandon and his family with financial security.
Brandon told 247Sports/CBS Sports on Monday that he believes the potential for NIL earnings has a chance not only to help him, but many other student-athletes across the state.
The complaint alleges that the State Board of Education exceeded its authority under state law to "regulate" the use of name, image and likeness (NIL) by public school athletes. Back in May 2023, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association passed guidelines that would have allowed student-athletes to begin marketing their name, image and likeness starting in July.
The NCHSAA lost the ability to enact those changes after Senate Bill 452 stripped the athletic association of many of its powers — and instead gave the responsibility of creating NIL guidelines to the Board of Education.
Keith said, "I think this is going to be the Brandon law. I think that they are spot on. I think when I did the research on it, there's a Senate Bill 452 and in that senate bill that authorized the Board of Education to regulate public school NIL deals not to abolish it, not to prohibit it."
Ultimately, on June 6, the BOE voted to prohibit all public school student-athletes from signing deals for the use of their name, image and likeness in exchange for compensation.
Brandon committed to Tennessee on August 3rd. According to website On3, Tennessee has one of the top NIL programs in the country for college football, with an average of $120k being paid out to each player for the 2024 season.
We reached out to the Grimsley football team to get in contact with the Brandon family. Head coach Darryl Brown said that the family has been told not to talk to the media, per their lawyer's request.
Family attorney Mike Ingersoll said the next step in this case is a preliminary injunction to get a hearing date set, and that should be within the next few weeks.
We've reached out to the State Board of Education which responded, "we have received the complaint. As this is a pending lawsuit, we are unable to offer additional information at this time."
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