UNC point guard Kelly uses NIL deal to gift men’s, women’s players and coaches Beats

By R.L. Bynum

CHARLOTTE — UNC point guard Deja Kelly is used to dishing out passes for buckets, but she did a little distributing this week with early Christmas gifts for the Carolina basketball family.

One of Kelly’s many NIL deals is with Beats by Dre, and she took advantage of that relationship to gift headphones to every player and coach on UNC’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.

The junior who leads Carolina in scoring distributed the Beats to coaches on Sunday and the players in Charlotte ahead of the Jumpman Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Theresa Nunn (@tnunn32)

The coaches got Beat Studio Buds that retail for around $90, and the players got Beats Studio3 Wireless headphones customized with UNC branding, which retail for $349.95.

RJ Davis (above) and Caleb Love were wearing their new headphones during warmups before Wednesday’s game in Charlotte.

Her NIL deals, among others, are with Dunkin’, hydration company Barcode, sportswear brand Actively Black, Outback Steakhouse, Postmates and Forever 21. As part of the Forever 21 deal as a brand ambassador, she posed in a Sports Illustrated photoshoot with others on a beach in a bikini.

Since signing so many deals, she treated herself to a 2022 white BMW X5, which has a retail price of more than $61,000.