The Michigan State Spartans Women’s Volleyball Team recently finished its 2023 regular season. While they improved their record from the previous season, they couldn’t make it to the postseason of the NCAA Championship. While the on-court result for the Spartans isn’t satisfactory, two MSU volleyball stars recently bagged a major off-court achievement.

Collegiate athletes don’t just remain on the training and competing grounds anymore but have become a great part of public exposure. A couple of Michigan State women’s volleyball players have recently made great headway in this domain. In fact, according to a social media post, the MSU players have also bagged an annual award for their work.

MSU stars’ landmark achievements in branding

The Names Images and Likeness (NIL) deals have proven to be a breakout source of income and exposure for collegiate athletes. Michigan State Volleyball recently posted a tweet on its official X account boasting about the NIL achievements of its dazzling volleyball stars Kaya Hood and Aliyah Moore. According to the tweet, “Congratulations to Kaya for receiving the Brand Award and to Aliyah for receiving the Ambassador of the Year Award at last night’s NIL Evergreen event. #GoGreen #SetTheStandard.” 

The tweet also carried the images of the volleyball players with the prestigious awards and smiling faces. Kaya Hood and Aliyah Moore are juniors at MSU and play the middle blocker and the outside hitter positions, respectively. They received the awards at the second edition of the EverGreen NIL Celebration, presented by MSUFCU. Interestingly, Michigan State University is the only Power 5 institution in the US that honors its students for their NIL achievements.

Paying tribute to the NIL achievements of the players

According to Darien Harris, the Assistant Athletics Director for NIL at MSU, “We are proud of how our student-athletes have immersed themselves in the NIL space.” The celebratory event was attended by over 100 coaches, student-athletes, and other staff members. Notably, a renowned NIL content advisor, Sam Green, was also in attendance at the event.

He noted, “I travel from university to university teaching student-athletes how to create content for their NIL partnerships, and I get a close look at how universities are navigating the NIL space and providing resources for their student-athletes.” 

He further added that when he thinks of innovation in the domain of NIL, the name of Michigan State University always pops up in his mind. The junior players have proven their mettle in bagging NIL deals. Now, they will look forward to ramping up their achievements on the volleyball court as well. Will the MSU Spartans be able to make it to the playoffs in 2024?

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