Five-star Ohio State freshman wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. is among the newest college football players to ink NIL deals with Nike.
Henry, who previously had an NIL deal with Adidas, was one of eight college football players who were named by Nike as new additions to their NIL roster on Thursday, alongside Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, Texas wide receiver Cam Coleman and defensive end Colin Simmons, Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy, Vanderbilt quarterback Jared Curtis and LSU tight end Trey’Dez Green.
Henry, the 14th-ranked overall prospect in the 2026 recruiting class, joins Ohio State sophomore running back Bo Jackson and senior cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. as Buckeye players who have NIL partnerships with Nike. Jackson and Mathews also signed their deals with Nike this offseason.
Our guys are locked in with the swoosh. @ChrisHenryJr x @Jr2Maine x @BoJackson2025 pic.twitter.com/3sCMzhmtBc
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) July 16, 2026
Nike also announced deals with 11 high school football players on Thursday. While none of them are Ohio State commits, several of them are Ohio State targets, including five-star 2028 cornerback Jermaine Cobbins, five-star 2028 wide receiver Madoxx Davis and five-star 2027 cornerback Gabriel Osborne Jr., who the Buckeyes are still pursuing despite his commitment to Oklahoma in June.
Coincidentally or not, Thursday’s announcement comes less than one week ahead of the scheduled commitment announcement for Ohio State’s top remaining target in the 2027 class, five-star running back David Gabriel Georges. As Ohio State and Tennessee battle for the top-10 overall prospect, 97.1 The Fan’s Jeremy Birmingham reported last week that “Adidas has sweetened the pot” for Tennessee’s NIL deal, whereas Nike told Ohio State that it does not get involved with high school athletes.
Thursday’s deals, though, show that Nike is interested in making NIL deals with Ohio State players once they become Buckeyes and that Nike is now opening the checkbook for top high school prospects as well. And Logan Hittle, Ohio State’s senior associate athletic director of NIL, sent a tweet shortly after Thursday’s announcement to emphasize that things are “all good” between the Buckeyes and their apparel partner.
All good over here https://t.co/uKrjVaQapZ
— Logan Hittle (@LoganHittle_) July 16, 2026
