A high school quarterback in California this week signed an endorsement deal with a recruiting app company.
Jaden Rashada is just wrapping up his junior season in Pittsburg, Calif. He is currently ESPN’s top-rated dual-threat quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class.
Rashada has now signed a four-figure deal to promote the AIR (Athletes in Recruitment) app via social media posts.
"It feels pretty good," Rashada told ESPN. "Maybe it can open up more opportunities for others and people can be more aware of it. It's a blessing to be able to make some money and promote a good brand."
Rashada is currently narrowing down his list of potential colleges, but said he doesn’t think the NIL earning potential will factor into where he decides to play.
AIR app founder James Sackville, a 24-year-old Australian who founded his company last year after finishing his career as a punter at SMU, told ESPN that AIR is a platform designed to help college coaches, high school athletes and their advisers simplify the recruiting process and find good matches.
After using current college athletes as a marketing tool in the past several months, Sackville said he intends to dedicate a significant portion of AIR's marketing budget toward working with other college and high school athletes as spokespeople in the coming year.
"There's no better person to talk about recruiting than someone who has recently gone through the process or is currently going through the process," Sackville said. "It's been a resounding success so far, and after talking with Jaden it was a literal no-brainer to work with him."
