Here Are Miami’s Top 10 NIL-Earning Athletes

While the national media is quick to point out the Miami Hurricanes’ high spending in the transfer portal, the money appears to have been well spent.

After making a splash with former transfer quarterback-turned-first-round pick Cam Ward, head coach Mario Cristobal went right back into the transfer portal to find his next starting quarterback and reshape his team’s defensive backfield. Talk about a great return on investment. New starting quarterback Carson Beck is back in the Heisman conversation. The defense has transformed into a juggernaut after a disappointing 2024. The Canes appear to be a serious playoff contender.

In 2021, after years of debate surrounding the professionalization of amateur sports, college students were finally permitted to be paid for their name, image, and likeness (NIL). This ended the era when student athletes could face suspension for accepting even a sandwich. The legislative changes allowed athletes to build NIL portfolios with various outside entities and brought the return of the popular EA Sports College Football video game, to the delight of college football fans. These deals could entail the athletes appearing in commercials or promoting brands on their social media accounts with sponsored posts.

Following his transfer to the University of Miami (UM), Beck sits at No. 2 in the nation’s football NIL rankings with an NIL valuation of $4.9 million, according to On3 Sports. Beck’s valuation surpasses Ward’s 2024 valuation by nearly 3 million.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning tops the list at $5.5 million, while South Florida native and Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith follows Beck with a $4.2 million valuation.

Beck comes in at No. 2 on the NIL list, which includes athletes across various sports and high school stars. He is one of many UM athletes reportedly raking in cash for NIL deals. The athletes can secure deals through the athletic department’s robust NIL collective, which On3 ranks as the No. 5 collective in college sports, up there with athletics powerhouses and large public universities.

Below are the ten UM athletes making the most NIL money, based on On3’s NIL valuations:

1. Carson Beck, football: $4.9 million
2. Malik Reneau, basketball $1.6 million
3. Rueben Bain Jr., football: $1.1 million
4. Ernest Udeh Jr., basketball: $772,000
5. Francis Mauigoa, football: $683,000
6. Shelton Henderson, basketball $672,000
7. Mark Fletcher, football: $640,000
8. CJ Daniels, football: $477,000
9. Justin Scott, football: $400,000
10. Zechariah Poyser, football: $306,000