In late October, sophomore Gavin Turley made a post to Instagram captioned, “Wherever I go, I bring the sound of Bose.”
“They reached out through some people that I know and said, ‘Do you want to do a deal?’ And I said, ‘Heck yeah, are you kidding me?’” Turley said.
The announcement of his Name, Image and Likeness deal with the premium audio equipment company was the first of many for Turley, whose on-field success in his freshman year has propelled him into success in the uncertain world of NIL.
“NIL wise, I’ve gotten stuff on my own with companies like Bose, Rawlings and a bunch of other companies that have been very great to me,” Turley said. “Once you’ve got a deal with Bose, other companies take notice … Now it’s about managing the flow of what I’ve got going.”
In his freshman year, Turley managed the difficult balance of student and athlete. Now he must balance the potential influencer status that comes with NIL.
His approach to NIL has been very similar to that on the baseball field. In many ways, very little has changed for Turley from when he stepped onto campus.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve thought of myself as an influencer, more of that I’m running a business,” Turley said. “I could care less about the money, I just want to play baseball.”
As Turley surveys the college baseball landscape, he has seen the ways NIL has affected the sport more broadly.
“There is good and bad to the entire NIL situation, but I think it is kinda cool to see kids getting paid but it also could get out of hand,” Turley said. “A lot of kids are looking just for money. When you’re looking just for money, for me at least, it’s a sign that the kid doesn’t believe in himself because he doesn’t think he can get the big bucks later.”
Turley speaks from personal experience, as he turned down the offer to make the jump to professional baseball. Turley was drafted in the No.19 round by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2022.
As Turley prepares for his 2024 campaign, the former freshman All-American is poised to build off of his successes from last year.
Turley’s 2023 batting average of 0.309, 46 run batted-ins and 14 home runs takes a consistency and poise that has become an expectation for the outfielder.
“I feel like it’s a big time for me to stay within my approach. Taking it pitch by pitch, and staying in the moment is a big time,” Turley said. “I’ve always wanted to be someone who has a positive impact on everyone around me, and never takes things too seriously.”
