Oklahoma State University Athletics
Barry Hinson, Brand Squad have Oklahoma State's NIL rising: 'Haven’t even started to climb yet'
September 15, 2022 | General
by Jacob Unruh, The Oklahoman
STILLWATER — Barry Hinson sat in the back corner of McAlister's Deli absolutely convinced he was being fired.
Oklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg stepped into the restaurant. So did Brandon Meyer, the athletic department's legal counsel.
Hinson's face went white.
"This is 'The Godfather' stuff," he thought. "They're going to fire me in a public place."
Immediately, Weiberg assured Hinson his job as a men's basketball analyst was safe. Well, kind of.
They had a new idea for Hinson's storied career.
He was already a candidate for the alumni association presidency. But Weiberg had another option: Hinson could lead the university's name, image and likeness team. Help the Cowboys remain ahead in the ever-changing landscape for student-athletes.
"I think, if I'm not mistaken, I didn't say no," Hinson said. "I said hell no."
Weiberg had a brilliant, measured response.
The job meant promoting OSU and its student-athletes, not fundraising. It included educating the public on NIL.
Hinson, a veteran basketball coach of 40 years, eventually relented. His tune changed.
And the next step in OSU's master NIL plan took shape.
"I'm on board," Hinson said. "I'll go back to my days at Oral (Roberts). I'm Oral. I'm trying to do tent revivals. Wherever I can go, wherever I can speak, whatever group I can be in front of and I can tell this story, I'm going to try to do my best."
Nearly a month into the second school year of the NIL era, OSU's venture into this new world has expanded. The Cowboys have a new NIL director and a group of business students navigating student-athletes in an unprecedented program.
From Hinson to the Brand Squad to a non-profit collective known as Pokes with a Purpose, those involved with NIL around Stillwater are all tied together with a common goal.
They want to aid all OSU student-athletes. It just has to be done the right way.
And that means a quiet, unified approach. OSU has innovated and adapted, placing itself in a rare position for the NIL era through a grassroots approach.
"I'm not worried about Oklahoma State keeping up with anybody in the current Big 12 or the new Big 12 or whatever conference we land," Hinson said. "So far, I can tell you I'm not worried. I'm pretty happy with how people are responding to this, and we're at the bottom of the mountain.
"We haven't even started to climb yet."
From logical to innovative
OSU professor Maribeth Kuzmeski was convinced she was almost certain to fail.
More than a year ago, she had been tasked by the athletic department with developing a class to teach student-athletes about NIL. Maybe mix in some entrepreneurship and personal branding.
There was no textbook, so she wrote one. There was no model for a class, so she designed that.
But Kuzmeski worried that might not be enough.
What if the athletes weren't getting enough NIL deals? She believed that would reflect poorly on her.
Kuzmeski needed help.
"I just did the most logical thing," she said.
She sought student volunteers. As the adviser of the marketing club, she made the inquiry. Fifty hands raised to help.
Mark that down as the moment OSU's NIL trajectory changed.
The Brand Squad — a group of marketing and sports management students who aid OSU student-athletes in the NIL world — was formed.
The program is unprecedented across the country.
"I just did it because it was a logical decision," Kuzmeski said. "It's not that great of an idea. It's just that it's never been done before. And it's so logical for a university."
Two or three Brand Squad students are teamed with a student-athlete who joins the program. Those students help the athlete find NIL deals. They create a brand for the athlete. They clean social media accounts, set up new ones and teach the athletes how to better utilize their accounts.
Each Brand Squad student is interviewed and trained before being paired with an athlete.
"It's almost like we're an agency," Kuzmeski said, "but we don't get paid, we don't take money from the university. We sort of just operate on our own for the benefit of the student-athletes."
The organization has rapidly grown.
Kuzmeski sells her textbooks. She's even started selling a training course on designing the program. Stanford was the first to purchase it.
A podcast was formed, with an athlete featured in each episode. An autograph signing event was held in the spring.
Last month, more than 100 students applied to work for the Brand Squad. There are now nearly 60 members, all paired with 100 student-athletes.
The goal is to work with every student-athlete on campus.
So far, even though the number of athletes is limited, they have benefited. From football to softball to equestrian to track and field, lots of deals have been made.
And it's been beneficial for the students in the Brand Squad.
"It turned into 10 times more than what I thought it could be," said Brand Squad president Haneen Rashwan. "And it's taken me places and put me in rooms that I would have never stepped foot into otherwise.
"It gave me the confidence and experience to enter into this industry."
Rashwan, a senior who graduated from Del City High School, planned to be a doctor. After she realized the amount of school required, she elected to attend business school. She mostly remained in the background.
But she was into sports. A huge Boston Celtics and NBA fan, she dreamed of being involved in athletics.
So, Kuzmeski — who once worked for the Washington Bullets — urged Rashwan to run for Brand Squad president.
Rashwan almost immediately found herself. She quickly developed the "Playbook," a guide to NIL with rules and ideas.
"I never really had enough faith in myself to really actually pursue (a sports career)," Rashwan said. "It's a very hard industry to get into, but it's also a very male-dominated industry."
That faith quickly pushed the Brand Squad and its athletes to a new level.
'The queen of NIL'
Tori Ortiz has a whiteboard in her bedroom covered with valuable information.
Each NIL deal she's signed. How much she has earned for each deal. How often she needs to post to her hundreds of thousands social media followers.
She prints every contract and places it in a folder.
Life can be hectic for OSU's graduate student sprinter. But she is on top of everything.
"I want to somehow be the queen of NIL," Ortiz said.
Ortiz is well on her way.
She is by far the top earner of all OSU student-athletes. Not Spencer Sanders. Not Avery Anderson III. Not Nolan McLean.
Ortiz appeals to fans with an intersection of sports and fashion on her various social media accounts, leading to more than 558,000 TikTok followers and 112,000 Instagram followers.
Her highest-profile deal was with her initial agreement with Gatorade, but she also currently has agreements with hip-hop jewelry company The GLD Shop, Force Factor Supplements and Tyreek Hill's Soul Runner, a premium athletic wear company.
Ortiz's venture into NIL began with the Brand Squad before it skyrocketed. Ortiz has since signed with Raymond Representation, a national marketing and NIL advising company, and she travels all over the country for NIL deals.
"You wouldn't have known her," Kuzmeski said, "but now if you go to her social media, you can't forget her. She's awesome."
Ortiz is regarded as a social media influencer.
"I never expected myself, I guess, to be as big as what I kind of am growing into," Ortiz said. "Just working with a lot of companies and just trying to really put out a face for women is really what my main goal is right now."
But there is a huge personal goal for Ortiz.
Before she treats herself with her big profits, she aims to help her mom.
When Ortiz was in the eighth grade, Jemise Ortiz fell and suffered a traumatic brain injury. She has been unable to work since, instead getting by on long-term disability insurance payments.
Tori Ortiz's focus now is to earn enough money by July to pay her mom's rent in an apartment for one year.
"I make more sometimes in one NIL deal than she does in a year from how much the government gives her," Ortiz said. "I want her to live in a place where she's happy."
By then, Ortiz could be atop the NIL world.
She's aiming for a car deal.
"You see most of the football players getting those," Ortiz said. "I want to do a deal that people are going to be like, 'Oh my gosh.'
"I just kinda gotta shock the world that a female got that instead of a male."
If not, perhaps she can buy one sooner than later. A matte black with red interior Porsche or Tesla tops her wishlist.
But so does making a difference in the NIL landscape.
According to NIL tech platform Opendorse, Division I male athletes had 67.4% of total NIL compensation last year, compared to 33.6% for women.
"I think I'm trying to also be a representation for the younger generations and for high schoolers because NIL is transferring into high schools," Ortiz said, "and really for just female athletes. Just trying to be an inspiration for them to live up to.
"I think I'll find a good sense of pride knowing if I'm able to make the proper impact and the positive impact that I want to."
'I don't tell anybody no'
Barry Hinson and Haneen Rashwan recently teamed up.
Hinson hired Rashwan as his NIL assistant. It's a veteran move to team up with one of the smartest NIL people on campus.
But they are an unlikely duo leading OSU's NIL team.
"I joke about it all the time, but for me to even reach his point of energy, I would need 10 energy drinks and I don't even think that's enough," Rashwan said. "I don't even think I can match it."
Hinson's unparalleled energy combined with Rashwan's analytical approach works well together.
"For the most part, we go into these meetings, and he'll do the extra Barry things that he's really good at doing," Rashwan said.
Then if the business is interested, Rashwan closes the deal. If the business is not interested in NIL, Hinson doesn't stop there.
He encourages other avenues.
"I'm going to run into people that don't want to do the NIL, I'm going to run into people that don't believe in this, but they want to help OSU," Hinson said. "I'm going to tell them yes.
"I'm not telling people where to send their money. I'm just telling them if you love Oklahoma State University — not just athletics — if you want Oklahoma State to be relevant and you want to help, I will help guide you the right way to do that.
"I can't think of a better job ever. I don't tell anybody no."
Just a few months into his new gig, the excitement and vision of NIL for OSU student-athletes is higher than before.
The Cowgirls' softball team landed an NIL deal with Seth Wadley's car dealerships in Perry. The Brand Squad has grown. Pokes with a Purpose, a non-profit NIL collective, continues building.
Even the Cowboys' football players this week announced the launch of the Stillwater NIL Club, a team-wide initiative.
And despite all the moving parts, the common goal remains the same.
"We can't have good sports if we're going to get creamed in NIL," Maribeth Kuzmeski, the professor who created the Brand Squad, said. "I think the way that we're all working together — Pokes with a Purpose, the Brand Squad, the athletic department, just the university in general — is we want to be successful at NIL, but we want to do it in a really authentic way.
"Because the more successful we are overall, the more successful our football team is going to be and our basketball team and our tennis team, equestrian and all of that, because we're able to recruit the best student-athletes."
Authenticity starts with Hinson.
The son of a preacher from Marlow in southwest Oklahoma, Hinson is as real as it gets. He prides himself in knowing everybody in the room.
And he loves OSU.
"There's two things that I get to do every day," said Hinson, an OSU graduate. "When my feet hit the ground, No. 1, I get to promote and share my passion about Oklahoma State University, whether it's academics, whether it's athletics, whether it's our staff, whether it's anything to deal with Oklahoma State. I get a chance to do that.
"The second thing I get to do is represent all those student-athletes. And I get an opportunity to try to make their lives better."
For a man who thought his career was ending in the back of a sandwich shop, Hinson's journey found new life, passionately leading OSU's NIL charge.
Oklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg stepped into the restaurant. So did Brandon Meyer, the athletic department's legal counsel.
Hinson's face went white.
"This is 'The Godfather' stuff," he thought. "They're going to fire me in a public place."
Immediately, Weiberg assured Hinson his job as a men's basketball analyst was safe. Well, kind of.
They had a new idea for Hinson's storied career.
He was already a candidate for the alumni association presidency. But Weiberg had another option: Hinson could lead the university's name, image and likeness team. Help the Cowboys remain ahead in the ever-changing landscape for student-athletes.
"I think, if I'm not mistaken, I didn't say no," Hinson said. "I said hell no."
Weiberg had a brilliant, measured response.
The job meant promoting OSU and its student-athletes, not fundraising. It included educating the public on NIL.
Hinson, a veteran basketball coach of 40 years, eventually relented. His tune changed.
And the next step in OSU's master NIL plan took shape.
"I'm on board," Hinson said. "I'll go back to my days at Oral (Roberts). I'm Oral. I'm trying to do tent revivals. Wherever I can go, wherever I can speak, whatever group I can be in front of and I can tell this story, I'm going to try to do my best."
Nearly a month into the second school year of the NIL era, OSU's venture into this new world has expanded. The Cowboys have a new NIL director and a group of business students navigating student-athletes in an unprecedented program.
From Hinson to the Brand Squad to a non-profit collective known as Pokes with a Purpose, those involved with NIL around Stillwater are all tied together with a common goal.
They want to aid all OSU student-athletes. It just has to be done the right way.
And that means a quiet, unified approach. OSU has innovated and adapted, placing itself in a rare position for the NIL era through a grassroots approach.
"I'm not worried about Oklahoma State keeping up with anybody in the current Big 12 or the new Big 12 or whatever conference we land," Hinson said. "So far, I can tell you I'm not worried. I'm pretty happy with how people are responding to this, and we're at the bottom of the mountain.
"We haven't even started to climb yet."
From logical to innovative
OSU professor Maribeth Kuzmeski was convinced she was almost certain to fail.
More than a year ago, she had been tasked by the athletic department with developing a class to teach student-athletes about NIL. Maybe mix in some entrepreneurship and personal branding.
There was no textbook, so she wrote one. There was no model for a class, so she designed that.
But Kuzmeski worried that might not be enough.
What if the athletes weren't getting enough NIL deals? She believed that would reflect poorly on her.
Kuzmeski needed help.
"I just did the most logical thing," she said.
She sought student volunteers. As the adviser of the marketing club, she made the inquiry. Fifty hands raised to help.
Mark that down as the moment OSU's NIL trajectory changed.
The Brand Squad — a group of marketing and sports management students who aid OSU student-athletes in the NIL world — was formed.
The program is unprecedented across the country.
"I just did it because it was a logical decision," Kuzmeski said. "It's not that great of an idea. It's just that it's never been done before. And it's so logical for a university."
Two or three Brand Squad students are teamed with a student-athlete who joins the program. Those students help the athlete find NIL deals. They create a brand for the athlete. They clean social media accounts, set up new ones and teach the athletes how to better utilize their accounts.
Each Brand Squad student is interviewed and trained before being paired with an athlete.
"It's almost like we're an agency," Kuzmeski said, "but we don't get paid, we don't take money from the university. We sort of just operate on our own for the benefit of the student-athletes."
The organization has rapidly grown.
Kuzmeski sells her textbooks. She's even started selling a training course on designing the program. Stanford was the first to purchase it.
A podcast was formed, with an athlete featured in each episode. An autograph signing event was held in the spring.
Last month, more than 100 students applied to work for the Brand Squad. There are now nearly 60 members, all paired with 100 student-athletes.
The goal is to work with every student-athlete on campus.
So far, even though the number of athletes is limited, they have benefited. From football to softball to equestrian to track and field, lots of deals have been made.
And it's been beneficial for the students in the Brand Squad.
"It turned into 10 times more than what I thought it could be," said Brand Squad president Haneen Rashwan. "And it's taken me places and put me in rooms that I would have never stepped foot into otherwise.
"It gave me the confidence and experience to enter into this industry."
Rashwan, a senior who graduated from Del City High School, planned to be a doctor. After she realized the amount of school required, she elected to attend business school. She mostly remained in the background.
But she was into sports. A huge Boston Celtics and NBA fan, she dreamed of being involved in athletics.
So, Kuzmeski — who once worked for the Washington Bullets — urged Rashwan to run for Brand Squad president.
Rashwan almost immediately found herself. She quickly developed the "Playbook," a guide to NIL with rules and ideas.
"I never really had enough faith in myself to really actually pursue (a sports career)," Rashwan said. "It's a very hard industry to get into, but it's also a very male-dominated industry."
That faith quickly pushed the Brand Squad and its athletes to a new level.
'The queen of NIL'
Tori Ortiz has a whiteboard in her bedroom covered with valuable information.
Each NIL deal she's signed. How much she has earned for each deal. How often she needs to post to her hundreds of thousands social media followers.
She prints every contract and places it in a folder.
Life can be hectic for OSU's graduate student sprinter. But she is on top of everything.
"I want to somehow be the queen of NIL," Ortiz said.
Ortiz is well on her way.
She is by far the top earner of all OSU student-athletes. Not Spencer Sanders. Not Avery Anderson III. Not Nolan McLean.
Ortiz appeals to fans with an intersection of sports and fashion on her various social media accounts, leading to more than 558,000 TikTok followers and 112,000 Instagram followers.
Her highest-profile deal was with her initial agreement with Gatorade, but she also currently has agreements with hip-hop jewelry company The GLD Shop, Force Factor Supplements and Tyreek Hill's Soul Runner, a premium athletic wear company.
Ortiz's venture into NIL began with the Brand Squad before it skyrocketed. Ortiz has since signed with Raymond Representation, a national marketing and NIL advising company, and she travels all over the country for NIL deals.
"You wouldn't have known her," Kuzmeski said, "but now if you go to her social media, you can't forget her. She's awesome."
Ortiz is regarded as a social media influencer.
"I never expected myself, I guess, to be as big as what I kind of am growing into," Ortiz said. "Just working with a lot of companies and just trying to really put out a face for women is really what my main goal is right now."
But there is a huge personal goal for Ortiz.
Before she treats herself with her big profits, she aims to help her mom.
When Ortiz was in the eighth grade, Jemise Ortiz fell and suffered a traumatic brain injury. She has been unable to work since, instead getting by on long-term disability insurance payments.
Tori Ortiz's focus now is to earn enough money by July to pay her mom's rent in an apartment for one year.
"I make more sometimes in one NIL deal than she does in a year from how much the government gives her," Ortiz said. "I want her to live in a place where she's happy."
By then, Ortiz could be atop the NIL world.
She's aiming for a car deal.
"You see most of the football players getting those," Ortiz said. "I want to do a deal that people are going to be like, 'Oh my gosh.'
"I just kinda gotta shock the world that a female got that instead of a male."
If not, perhaps she can buy one sooner than later. A matte black with red interior Porsche or Tesla tops her wishlist.
But so does making a difference in the NIL landscape.
According to NIL tech platform Opendorse, Division I male athletes had 67.4% of total NIL compensation last year, compared to 33.6% for women.
"I think I'm trying to also be a representation for the younger generations and for high schoolers because NIL is transferring into high schools," Ortiz said, "and really for just female athletes. Just trying to be an inspiration for them to live up to.
"I think I'll find a good sense of pride knowing if I'm able to make the proper impact and the positive impact that I want to."
'I don't tell anybody no'
Barry Hinson and Haneen Rashwan recently teamed up.
Hinson hired Rashwan as his NIL assistant. It's a veteran move to team up with one of the smartest NIL people on campus.
But they are an unlikely duo leading OSU's NIL team.
"I joke about it all the time, but for me to even reach his point of energy, I would need 10 energy drinks and I don't even think that's enough," Rashwan said. "I don't even think I can match it."
Hinson's unparalleled energy combined with Rashwan's analytical approach works well together.
"For the most part, we go into these meetings, and he'll do the extra Barry things that he's really good at doing," Rashwan said.
Then if the business is interested, Rashwan closes the deal. If the business is not interested in NIL, Hinson doesn't stop there.
He encourages other avenues.
"I'm going to run into people that don't want to do the NIL, I'm going to run into people that don't believe in this, but they want to help OSU," Hinson said. "I'm going to tell them yes.
"I'm not telling people where to send their money. I'm just telling them if you love Oklahoma State University — not just athletics — if you want Oklahoma State to be relevant and you want to help, I will help guide you the right way to do that.
"I can't think of a better job ever. I don't tell anybody no."
Just a few months into his new gig, the excitement and vision of NIL for OSU student-athletes is higher than before.
The Cowgirls' softball team landed an NIL deal with Seth Wadley's car dealerships in Perry. The Brand Squad has grown. Pokes with a Purpose, a non-profit NIL collective, continues building.
Even the Cowboys' football players this week announced the launch of the Stillwater NIL Club, a team-wide initiative.
And despite all the moving parts, the common goal remains the same.
"We can't have good sports if we're going to get creamed in NIL," Maribeth Kuzmeski, the professor who created the Brand Squad, said. "I think the way that we're all working together — Pokes with a Purpose, the Brand Squad, the athletic department, just the university in general — is we want to be successful at NIL, but we want to do it in a really authentic way.
"Because the more successful we are overall, the more successful our football team is going to be and our basketball team and our tennis team, equestrian and all of that, because we're able to recruit the best student-athletes."
Authenticity starts with Hinson.
The son of a preacher from Marlow in southwest Oklahoma, Hinson is as real as it gets. He prides himself in knowing everybody in the room.
And he loves OSU.
"There's two things that I get to do every day," said Hinson, an OSU graduate. "When my feet hit the ground, No. 1, I get to promote and share my passion about Oklahoma State University, whether it's academics, whether it's athletics, whether it's our staff, whether it's anything to deal with Oklahoma State. I get a chance to do that.
"The second thing I get to do is represent all those student-athletes. And I get an opportunity to try to make their lives better."
For a man who thought his career was ending in the back of a sandwich shop, Hinson's journey found new life, passionately leading OSU's NIL charge.
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