Why are high school athletes signing with sports agencies before college?
What do DeSoto wide receiver Ethan “Boobie” Feaster, five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson and Florida Gators starting quarterback DJ Lagway have in common?
All three have teamed up with NETWORK, a sports marketing and management agency. Their decisions mark a new era in athletics in which elite high school players are represented long before they ever sign a professional contract.
NIL in Texas: a shifting landscape
In Texas, state laws permit athletes 17 and older to sign NIL deals, though name, image and likeness compensation can’t begin until they’ve enrolled in college.
With rules changing rapidly across the country, representation helps players prepare for opportunities and challenges that may come without warning.
That’s the strategy behind Feaster’s move. The four-star USC pledge’s brand is being built by NETWORK, so he can be in a good position when he turns 17, just a few weeks ahead of graduation.
Feaster, who reclassified to the class of 2026, said he’d been contacted by agents since middle school. His family finally decided the time was right to seek help navigating what his father, Lee, called a new generation of recruiting and marketing.
The vetting process was extensive. The Feasters interviewed 47 agencies before landing on NETWORK, led by CEO Justin J. Giangrande.
“Between me and my wife, we had already had somewhere that we wanted [Ethan] to go, mentally,” Lee Feaster said. “We had plans for him.”
Giangrande said his role goes beyond contracts. He and his team work with athletes on branding, logos, content strategy and building trust.
“It’s about getting used to the process together,” he said.
Part of Giangrande’s role is being prepared for anything, including law changes. NETWORK even has merchandising prepared for Feaster, just in case Texas loosens NIL restrictions for high schoolers.
Representation also helps Feaster block out distractions. With NETWORK handling calls, he doesn’t have to deal with a constant stream of texts from coaches trying to flip him from USC.
“It’s a lot easier to deal with,” Feaster said. “Because I’m a person who doesn’t like to be bothered a lot. The coaches nag and nag and nag, and I don’t like that.”
Even with his commitment firm, Feaster now faces a different kind of attention: USC fans are already excited for his arrival. He said his DeSoto teammates keep him grounded.
Off the field, NETWORK is guiding Feaster on his personal brand. He wants to eventually launch a nonprofit either in college or his first year in the NFL to give back to his community.
He says branding starts with something simple.
“You’ve got to make sure that people like you,” Feaster said. “I try to smile everywhere I go. ... Even if I’m in a bad mood that day — I might not try to be bothered but I try to smile. I just want the industry to love me as a person.”
A father’s perspective
The Feaster family, originally from Louisiana, decided to stay in Texas despite stricter NIL rules. They wanted Ethan to finish his career with his DeSoto teammates.
Lee Feaster said Texas is making a mistake by limiting NIL, calling on state leaders to reconsider. He said the Lone Star State should learn from states like California.
“If they’re thinking that a school can pay you NIL to come to this specific school, that’s the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” Lee Feaster said. “And to be honest, some of those schools that feel that way were already doing that to certain kids anyway, under the table. … They were buying houses or putting them in rental houses. Paying their bills. Promise them things. But that’s not what NIL is.”
With Feaster being a prominent Dallas-Fort Worth athlete with representation, the family has been bombarded with questions from parents. Lee emphasized that representation, however, isn’t for everyone.
“If your kid is that type of kid — a four- or five-star — it makes sense for them to have representation,” Lee Feaster said. “But if your kid is a two- or three-star kid ... you can fight through it and do it yourself.”
His biggest piece of advice is for parents to stay educated and be willing to adapt to changing environments.
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