Mater Dei high school football star Chris Henry Jr. featured in Adidas commercial

High schooler Chris Henry Jr., an Ohio State football commit, featured in an Adidas commercial promoting new shoes and cleats.

Chris Henry Jr. (right) in an ADIDAS commercial promoting new football cleats. Henry Jr. will be a high school senior at Mater Dei in Calif. this upcoming 2025 season. / ADIDAS

High school athletes are in commercials. Get used to it — it's part of the new NIL era prep and college athletes can tap into.

Mater Dei High's Chris Henry Jr., a standout wide receiver committed to Ohio State, hasn't even started his senior year yet, but his name, image and likeness (NIL) as earned him a featured spot in an Adidas commercial promoting new football cleats.

Adidas signed seven football players nationwide to help promote its "AdiZero" shoes and cleats. The name of the seven is dubbed the 'AdiZero7 Class', according to Nick DePaula.

The other six football players include:

• Tyler Atkinson (Georgia, LB)
• Kayden Dixon-Wyatt (Mater Dei HS, WR)
• Madden Iamaleava (UCLA, QB)
• Vernell Brown III (Florida, WR)
• Madden Williams (St. John Bosco HS, WR)
• Winston Watkins Jr. (Ole Miss, WR)

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Henry Jr. is the son of former NFL wideout Chris Henry, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals before his sudden death in 2009. Henry Jr. is carrying his father's football legacy as a standout prospect himself, earning a 5-star rating by various recruiting sites such as ESPN and On3. He's rated a 4-star prospect on 247Sports.com where he's ranked the No. 4 wideout in the country.

The 6-foot-6, 205-pound wide receiver missed most of his junior season with a knee injury he suffered against Las Vegas Bishop Gorman on September 6, 2024.

247Sports National Recruiting Analyst Greg Biggins says Henry Jr. "has rare traits and if he hits his ceiling, has 1st round NFL Draft upside".

Mater Dei junior Chris Henry Jr. is helped off the field against Bishop Gorman after suffering from a leg injury on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. / Heston Quan

When it comes to California high school athletes getting this kind of exposure, recent memory points to women's basketball star Juju Watkins, who had numerous NIL deals while a prep star at Sierra Canyon. Now at USC, Watkins is all over the place, including endorsement commercials with Nike and State Farm.

It's still odd to see high school and college athletes in commercials or promoting products/services via social media, but that's the new world of the NIL space that allows amateur athletes to use their influence for monetary profit. As long as the student-athlete isn't wearing any school branded logos or verbiage, the student-athlete is free to accept money or gifts in exchange.

This was not the case for many, many years. Accepting money or gifts as a high school or college athletes was illegal. One of the most notable stories surrounding this rule includes former USC football standout Reggie Bush, who later got his Heisman trophy stripped.

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