I've been asked many times how many athletes beyond the huge superstars in college sports could actually benefit from selling their NIL rights. I think Dee Mitchell is a great example of why it's hard to pin down and very wrong to assume only the future pros will benefit.

Dee works 40 hours a week at WalMart to help his mom this year while also playing on the Oklahoma State basketball team and going to class full time. OSU gave him a scholarship this month. Here's his story: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dee-mitchell-oklahoma-state-surprised-scholarship-walmart/

The story is kind of picking up some viral steam. After Dee got his scholarship, he went back to stocking bananas at WalMart. In a future world, it's a safe bet that the large OSU fanbase would make sure he could quit his WalMart job this week and focus on school.

He could sell autographs or get paid to speak to a local youth group about the value of hard work. He's played 9 minutes this year for the Cowboys and won't go pro, but NIL rights could change his life for the better.