The NCAA men’s basketball season has barely started, and the NIL valuations are already seeing ebbs and flows. One such star who had to bear the brunt of NIL decline is the North Carolina star RJ Davis after the Tar Heels lost a recent game against Kansas. And after his major loss, he could soon be eclipsed by two Rutgers Rivals who have recently inked major deals with Nike.

According to the latest updates by Nick DePaula, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey have inked a multi-year NIL and NBA shoe deal with Nike. The two stars can be seen dunking hard and fast in the latest Nike “Welcome to the Family” announcement, which at the end, culminates with graphics display “This family isn’t for everyone.”

Now given the exclusivity of the deal, it is expected that the two can eclipse Davis soon in the NIL landscape.

Davis currently has a NIL valuation of $1.7 million and Bailey stands at $1.6 million. The No. 2 prospect of the class of 2024 is still to make his season debut. The freshman, according to reports, is nursing a hip injury and has missed both games of the Scarlet Knights. His head coach Steve Pikiell had shared that “he’s close,” which means he might take the court during Rutgers’ third game on Friday. Bailey along with another five-star recruit Dylan Harper gave Rutgers the number nine recruiting class.

While Bailey is the number two pick in the NBA 2025 mock draft, his teammate Harper is the number third pick. The 18-year-old made his debut against the Wagner Seahawks, scoring 20 points, shooting 9-14 from the field, helping his team win by a 75-52 margin. In the next game against the Saint Peter’s Peacocks, the freshman guard hit 24 points with 6 rebounds and 8 out of 14 field goals, driving home the point that he was here to uplift the team.

Harper, much like Bailey, has a NIL valuation of $1.6 million and the two occupy the 19th and 20th position in the NIL 100, respectively. Whereas in the college basketball circuit, the two are placed at the 7th and 8th spot respectively. And with Kevin Durant welcoming the duo to the Nike family, the two might shine ahead of Davis in the NIL race, especially with a bump to his standing.

RJ Davis suffers a 320K NIL setback

Davis has around 273K followers on social media and major deals with Hanes, JBL Audio, and Athletic Brewing Company. This made him one of the popular names in the college NIL circuit. However, on Thursday, the 23-year-old suffered a loss of 320K in his NIL valuation. While the exact cause of this setback is not known, many fans have attributed it to the loss against Kansas Jayhawks.

During the first game against Elon Phoenix, the New York-born hit 24 points with 7 rebounds and an equal number of assists. His efforts helped his team emerge victorious in the game by a 90-76 margin. However, when he took the court against the top-ranked Kansas, his efforts did not pay off the same dividends.

During the second matchup, the senior guard scored 16 points with 4 assists, but his shooting suffered. He could only hit 3-out-15 field goals, which resulted in the Tar Heels losing the game against KU by a narrow 92-89 margin. And just within a week of this loss, his NIL too took a dip.

Now, Davis has a NIL valuation of $1.7 million and occupies the 16th spot in the NIL 100, just 3 above Harper and 4 better than Bailey. With just a $0.1 million, gap chances are that the two might soon leave Davis behind, considering the Nike deal will definitely increase their NIL by a significant amount. Hence, it remains to be seen, how Davis will tackle this change. Hopefully, he will be able to take his team to victory in the subsequent games as it would be really tragic if his 20-point average goes in vain as the season progresses.