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LSU baseball star sends blunt NIL pitch to popular shoe brand

Tigers' outfielder/pitcher Jake Brown spends per diem money on Crocs, Jibbitz accessories

Michael Ehrlich

Jake Brown 7, LSU Tigers take on the Tennessee Vols. Sunday, April 27, 2025.
Jake Brown 7, LSU Tigers take on the Tennessee Vols. Sunday, April 27, 2025. / SCOTT CLAUSE / USATODAY Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There is no time like the present, especially in NIL. Ahead of the College World Series, LSU's star outfielder/pitcher took his shot at pitching his dream brand partnership live on TV.

In an interview with Hurrdat Sports, avid Crocs-wearer Jake Brown shared that he spends his own per diem money on the off-field foam footwear - and Jibbitz accessories - suggesting the brand slide into his Instagram DMs to coordinate a deal.

“I have some Crocs slides that I’ve decorated with Star Wars Jibbitz,” he told Hurrdat Sports. “So, I have a Star Wars pair of Crocs and I have Pizza Planet-Toy Story crocs that I bought with some per diem money thanks to Champ Artigues, our baseball ops guy. Thank you so much Champ and great purchase. I love my Crocs."

Brown - who is hitting .315 on the season with 52 hits, 43 runs and 44 RBIs - even pitched his own Crocs design, themed with animals prints to celebrate his home state of Louisiana, where the sophomore was the top-ranked player as a high school senior.

“I don’t know, like some gators," he pitched. "Some alligators, something. A pelican, maybe a tiger, anything that we could do. That would be super sweet.”

Crocs has a heavy presence in the NIL space, recently partnering with fellow Tiger Livvy Dunne on a partnership. The brand also added freshman-to-be Cameron and Cayden Boozer of Duke basketball, the nation's leading scorer Ta’niya Latson now of South Carolina and former Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, now of the New York Giants.

LSU has won seven National Championships - most recently in 2023 - the second-most in NCAA history and enter their 20th College World Series. Brown and LSU face off against SEC-rival Arkansas to start the College World Series on June 14 at 7PM ET on ESPN.

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Michael Ehrlich
MICHAEL EHRLICH

Michael Ehrlich is a seasoned sports marketing executive with experience across the global sports brand, athlete representation, media and education sides of the business. The Founder and CEO of Playbook Marketing, Ehrlich consults with brands on all things NIL and athlete partnerships, advises student-athletes on their personal brand building endeavors and is an adjunct professor at his alma mater, the University of Southern California where he teaches a course on athlete communications and marketing. As a writer, his previous bylines include Boardroom, Business of College Sports, DIME Magazine and UPROXX, among others. You can follow him across social media at @MichaelEhrlich and reach out via michael@playbook-marketing.com

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