Jalen Brewster, the top-ranked recruit in college football, is transferring from Cedar Hill High School in Texas to Buford High School in Georgia. Did NIL money serve as the driving force for the sudden in-season move?
If I had to guess, yes.
Brewster will get paid seven figures to play college football at either Texas Tech or LSU. This latest move allows him to get paid before then.
Jalen Brewster is leaving Cedar Hill for Buford.
It was announced over the weekend that Jalen Brewster is making the move from Texas to Georgia. The five-star defensive line prospect, who practiced with Cedar Hill High School all summer, will join Buford High School for the rest of his senior year.
Cedar Hill has yet to begin the regular season. Buford, the reigning consensus national champion, just won its first game of the new season on Saturday. The defense forced five turnovers. And now it will add Brewster.
At 6-foot-3, 302 pounds, Brewster holds 29 scholarship offers from schools all over the country. He is currently committed to Texas Tech but LSU is working hard to flip him. A final decision is expected in the coming weeks, if not days.
According to Steve Wiltfong, the Red Raiders still hold the advantage. Although they are expected to receive a reaffirmation of commitment from Brewster in the near future, the early signing period is not until December. There is still a lot of time for things to change. Recruiting is fluid but it sounds like Brewster’s upcoming announcement will be it.
In the meantime, he is in the process of moving from the Lone Star State to the Peach State.
Did NIL money play a role in his transfer?
The general understanding is that Texas Tech offered to pay Jalen Brewster $1 million for his freshman season of college football. LSU supposedly offered him $1.5.
Is $500,000 enough to make the difference? We’ll see. There is another wrinkle here that makes it even more confusing.
Brewster (through his parents as trustees) bought a piece of land in Lubbock, Texas at some point this year. Either Brewster bought the property with money that was already paid to him by the Red Raiders, bought the property with family money knowing that it would soon be paid off with the money that will be presented to him upon arrival to campus, or received the property as part of his compensatory package with the school to which he is already committed. The exact details are not public. We don’t know.
What we do know is that Brewster is transferring from Cedar Hill to Buford. High school athletes in Texas are strictly prohibited from receiving Name, Image and Likeness compensation while competing in University Interscholastic League sports. High school athletes in Georgia are allowed to profit from Name, Image and Likeness. They are allowed to get paid before college.
If I had to guess (*puts on tin foil hat*), Brewster made the move from Texas to Georgia for financial reasons. I would guess that he has lucrative offers in his inbox from brands who want to partner with the top-ranked player in high school football. He could not accept those deals at Cedar Hill. He can accept those deals at Buford.
And, to go even one step further, Brewster might have NIL deals lined up with a company like Adidas and/or Nike. Texas Tech is an Adidas school. If he is going to play for the Red Raiders, it would make a lot of sense for the Three Stripes to sign him now. The same could be said for Nike and LSU. Maybe the Tigers are going to flip Brewster with a promise of money from the Swoosh.
Or, perhaps, this is much ado about nothing. The best high school football player in the country is joining the best high school football team in the country. Brewster has a chance to win a national title at Buford. He did not have that opportunity before.
I had to guess, money played a big role.