Rachel Glenn will defend her collegiate high jump title in 2023 — but she won’t be doing it back at the University of South Carolina.
The 2024 Olympic hopeful is leaving the school for Arkansas, claiming that South Carolina was unwilling to help her capitalize on her Name, Image and Likeness rights.
“One of the reasons I was getting frustrated with the NIL collective at South Carolina was I kept asking and asking for help with NIL deals and brand deals, but they literally spent all their attention on basketball and football,” Glenn told On3.com.
“So going on other visits and going to other schools, I’m noticing how their collective focuses on all sports, not just football and basketball.”
Though NIL collectives are independent of a school, they are responsible for funding NIL opportunities for student athletes.
Glenn made a name for herself during her freshman debut at the University of South Carolina, winning an SEC Outdoor Championship the Gamecocks and then by clearing a 6-foot, 4-inch jump to secure the national championship title just a few weeks later.
Despite her success in competition, Glenn says that the University of South Carolina did not properly support her NIL endeavors.
She entered the transfer portal in May and became sought after by top track & field programs overnight.
“I was overwhelmed. Literally, when I entered the portal, the next morning, I opened my emails, my DMs — they had blown up,” she said. “Everybody wanted me to go to their school.”
Glenn, a rising senior, visited Arkansas, Florida, LSU and Oregon as her main potential contenders, annoucning her Razorbacks decision on Tuesday.
“There are some schools that do recruit with NIL,” she said. “I’ve had some schools say they can’t promise me anything with NIL because it’s against the rules, but if you come here we can help you. And then there are the schools that straight up offer an NIL deal.”
Having found her program — the Razorbacks finished third at the 2023 Outdoor Championships — Glenn can now concentrate on training for the Paris Games.
“Whatever I do, even in the summer, is going to set me up for the Olympic Trials,” Glenn said. “I definitely have to be on my A game.”
With more than 25,000 social media followers, she has found a passion for content creation through collaborations and partnerships with Celsius Energy and Clean Energy.
“Content creation is definitely something I want to do,” Glenn said. “I feel like the NIL world and getting brand deals is a part of that. Maximizing my athletic ability along with NIL was something I was looking for in a school. Through NIL, I want people to see me as a person. I want them to see personality: What makes me sad, makes me glad, makes me — happy things like that.”
