Future Duke basketball showman rakes in refreshing NIL opportunity

Duke basketball commit Jared McCain's advanced NIL portfolio already included footwear and bling via partnerships with Crocs, Cernucci, and Kay Jewelers. But per Pete Nakos of On3, the Centennial High School (Calif.) senior is now entering the beverage game by signing on as "the first brand ambassador for Lemon Perfect."

Lemon Perfect is an enhanced water company — experiencing skyrocketing popularity, apparently — that offers an assortment of low-calorie lemon-based drinks.

McCain, who ranks No. 21 on the 247Sports 2023 Composite and moonlights as a TikTok star with roughly 1.6 million followers, has an On3 NIL Valuation of $959,000. That is the highest mark in Duke's 2023 class despite the 6-foot-4, 195-pound shooting guard ranking lowest among the program's four committed five-stars.

And it puts McCain at No. 3 overall among all high school prospects in this regard, trailing only uncommitted 2023 guards Bronny James ($7.2 million) and Mikey Williams ($4.0 million).

As Joe Tipton of On3 suggests below, the monetary value of McCain's upbeat, showman-like presence in front of a camera — on and off the court — should remain on the rise and even enjoy a significant boost in the Duke basketball limelight:

"He's done one heck of a job growing his own personal brand. However, Duke will only strengthen it, especially in the NIL era."

Consider that McCain's On3 NIL Valuation trails only three current college basketball players: Northwestern State one-armed guard Hansel Enmanuel ($1.5 million), Texas Southern forward Shaqir O'Neal ($1.1 million), and UNC big man Armando Bacot ($1.0 million).

In other words, at least according to On3's formula, Jared McCain sits higher than the 2022-23 Blue Devils' top NIL talent: freshman Dariq Whitehead ($762,000).

Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country for more Duke basketball recruiting updates.