High school basketball: Class of 2023 star Mikey Williams signs with Excel Sports to capitalize on NIL earning potential

High school basketball star Mikey Williams has signed a deal with Excel Sports Management with intentions of becoming the first high school athlete to generate earning of their likeness, first reported by Adrian Wojnarowki of ESPN.

According to Excel vice president Matt Davis, he believes the deal "will generate millions of dollars for this young man."

"Mikey's relevance around his peers in the basketball community ins off the charts. He's one of the most relevant personalities in the basketball community. His digital and social following speak for themselves," Davis told ESPN.

Williams is estimated to have a social media following of more than five million followers across multiple platforms.

"The NIL rules provide a new opportunity for someone like me that has put in so much energy and effort into building a community. I am excited to be the first high school athlete to make this move. I love to hoop and I love engaging with my fans and look forward to continuing to share my journey with everyone," Williams told ESPN in a statement.

The 6-foot-3 combo-guard is currently regarded as the No. 5 prospect in the Class of 2023 according to 247Sports composite rankings and earned third team MaxPreps Sophomore All-American honors in 2020-21 after averaging over 20 points per contest for Lake Norman Christian (Davidson, N.C.).

Williams has been in the national spotlight since his freshman season when he broke the CIF San Diego Section single-game scoring record with 77 points in a 116-42 victory. He went on to earn MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year honors in 2019-20.

Next season, Williams is expected to play for newly-formed Vertical Academy (Charlotte, N.C.), which is expected to be sponsored by a major shoe company and will compete against a national schedule running from August to March, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Williams is the first high school athlete to announce intentions to pursue revenue following the NIL ruling at the collegiate level. It is still unclear how these rules will be enforced across high school sports, however some state associations and the NFHS have been proactive in announcing member associations would not be eligible to benefit from NIL benefits at the high school level.

Those proclamations may not matter in Williams' case as Vertical Academy is an independent program that is not affiliated with the NFHS and does not belong to a state governing body.