A lawsuit filed against the Ohio High School Athletic Association will force a vote of member schools on changing rules on name, image and likeness. The suit comes from a Dayton student who’s one of the top football players in the country and has verbally committed to Ohio State.
Wayne High School wide receiver Jamier Brown is missing out on more than $100,000 from NIL deals, according to the lawsuit filed by Columbus attorney Luke Fedlam. Brown's mother Jasmine is named as the plaintiff in the lawsuit.
"There are 44 states across the country and the District of Columbia that allow for name, image, and likeness for high school student athletes. Ohio, unfortunately, is not one of them," Fedlam said in an interview. "It prohibits opportunities to high school student athletes here. The more elite those student-athletes are, the larger the risk that they may then go to another state or somewhere outside of Ohio to be able to earn compensation based on their abilities."
Fedlam said that kind of money can cover all the expenses that top athletes rack up.
"There's a lot that it takes to be elite, from training costs, recovery costs, etc., and that can be a significant strain on families," Fedlam said. "A lot of families are struggling these days, and so the opportunities for student-athletes to be able to provide back to their families is significant."
Schools that make up the OHSAA voted against changing NIL rules in 2022, but the organization was planning to hold another vote in May 2026. The OHSAA said in a statement after the lawsuit was filed that the vote will happen sooner, but it's unclear exactly when.
“We have been following this situation closely and have been preparing for this situation,” said Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director. “We were hoping this would wait for the referendum voting period in May, but as we told our schools this fall, the vote may have to come sooner than that due to a lawsuit, which would trigger the emergency vote. We are prepared to move forward with our member schools on this issue.”
A spokesman clarified that a date will be set based on the time frame set by the judge in the lawsuit.
