LSU announces 40 athletes joining Nike’s Blue Ribbon Elite program through NIL deals
· Yahoo Sports
Late last year, LSU became the first athletics program to take part in Nike’s Blue Ribbon Elite NIL initiative. The Tigers have now announced their 2026-27 class of deals, featuring 40 athletes as part of the group.
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LSU is the latest school to announce its 2026-27 Blue Ribbon Elite NIL class. Alabama announced 18 athletes came aboard through the initiative as Nike continues to expand its reach in the NIL space ahead of this academic year. Through the program, athletes at Nike partner schools can sign NIL deals with the apparel giant.
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This year’s group of LSU athletes includes 11 football players, two men’s basketball players and two women’s basketball players. Here is a look at the latest Tigers athletes who are joining Nike’s athlete roster.
Football (11)
Ty Benefield, Harlem Berry, Jayce Brown, Lamar Brown, Caden Durham, Trey’Dez Green, Husan Longstreet, DJ Pickett, Jordan Seaton, Princewill Umanmielen, Whit Weeks
Baseball (8)
Cade Arrambide, Casan Evans, Landon Hood, Cooper Moore, Logan Schmidt, William Schmidt, Omar Serna, Bino Watters
Softball (4)
Kylee Edwards, Mackenzie Pickens, Madison Pickens, Ayla Tuua
Track & Field (3)
Aniyah Bigam, Grant Buckmiller, Tima Godbless
Gymnastics (3)
Kailin Chio, Kaliyah Lincoln, Konnor McClain
Men’s Basketball (2)
Abdi Bashir, Mouhamed Dioubate
Soccer (2)
Sariyah Bailey, Ava Galligan
Women’s Basketball (2)
MiLaysia Fulwiley, Zakiyah Johnson
Men’s Golf (1)
Arni Sveinsson
Swimming (1)
Jere Hribar
Men’s Tennis (1)
Erik Arutiunian
Women’s Tennis (1)
Ella McDonald
Volleyball (1)
Jurnee Robinson
“We’re excited to announce that Nike has signed an unprecedented 40 LSU student-athletes to NIL deals for the upcoming year,” said Zach Greenwell, LSU deputy athletics director and chief strategy officer, in a statement. “Since Nike chose to launch its Blue Ribbon Elite program on our campus last year, our partnership has been special and only continued to grow.
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“This announcement has been the better part of a year in the making, including 14 team content shoots and many months of planning and execution from Nike, our student-athletes and the talented staff within The Brand at LSU. There is truly no better place in the country for student-athletes to showcase their talents and elevate themselves, and we can’t wait to see what comes next for these two iconic brands.”
Nike launched the Blue Ribbon Elite program in conjunction with an extension of its apparel deal with LSU in December 2025. The partnership will now continue through 2036 and, according to Wednesday’s announcement, the roster will continue to evolve.
“Being part of this collaboration between LSU and Nike is such a blessing,” Ty Benefield said in a statement. “Becoming a Nike athlete is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid, so to achieve that now and be surrounded by so many great athletes is truly a dream come true.”