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It is one factor for a NCAA athlete to safe a NIL (i.e. endorsement) take care of a significant U.S. model, nevertheless it’s a complete different degree for a NCAA athlete to land a signature shoe deal.
Welcome to the world of Darius Acuff Jr., the 6-foot-3 Arkansas freshman guard from IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) by way of Detroit. In line with ESPN’s Shams Charania, Acuff has landed a signature shoe with Reebok, changing into the primary males’s athlete to land one from a significant shoe model whereas nonetheless in school.
Acuff 1 on the way in which. pic.twitter.com/oNvr5k5mY5
— Reebok (@Reebok) March 24, 2026
No, do not search for Acuff’s signature shoe on Thursday through the Candy 16 when Arkansas performs favored Arizona in San Jose, Calif. (CBS 9:45 pm ET), however search for it as he enters the NBA within the fall. Acuff signed with Reebok in Could 2025 as he was wrapping up a honors stuffed highschool profession.
He was named second 5 on the 2025 All-American Elite Group after main the EYBL Scholastic League in scoring with a 23.7 ppg and earned league participant of the 12 months honors, following within the footsteps of 2024 EYBLS POY Cooper Flagg of Montverde Academy (Fla.). Acuff had a team-high 24 factors for Group USA within the 2025 Nike Hoop Summit and was additionally chosen a McDonald’s All-American.
Acuff has exceeded expectations at Arkansas, and a few are calling him essentially the most polished school guard ever to play for coach John Calipari, an inventory that features Derrick Rose and John Wall, each who have been No. 1 picks within the NBA Draft as freshman guards.
Acuff is predicted to be a High 5 NBA Draft selection after coming into school as a consensus High 15 nationwide prospect. Acuff was named 2026 SEC Participant of the Yr and a A.P. First Group All-American, solely the second in Arkansas historical past, becoming a member of 1979 selection Sidney Moncrief.
Reebok is hoping Acuff develops into the corporate’s finest males’s basketball endorser since Allen Iverson within the late Nineteen Nineties and 2000s. The shoe firm is hoping to financial institution on Acuff’s city attraction and standing as a street-wise guard, a basketball prototype that American basketball followers usually discover interesting on a mass degree. Iverson just lately endorsed Acuff as “the following HIM.”
Reebok has made some main inroads on the ladies’s aspect with WNBA star Angel Reese and are hoping Acuff has related and even larger attraction.
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