Klutch Sports Reportedly Signs 1st High School Athlete

One of the nation’s top high school football recruits is making history for a prominent sports agency.

QB Malachi Nelson — the No. 1-ranked recruit on ESPN’s class of 2023 rankings — is signing with Klutch Sports, per Pete Thamel.

Nelson — who is committed to play at USC but took a visit with Texas A&M recently — is Klutch’s first high school client. The agency will presumably represent him in negotiations for NIL deals.

According to On3’s NIL rankings, Nelson has an NIL valuation of $738,000 — good for 39th on the list and well behind Arch Manning, the highest-valued football recruit in his class (No. 3 overall).

It’s a further foray into the NIL world for the agency founded by Rich Paul and LeBron James.

Klutch signed then-USC QB Kedon Slovis in the immediate months following NIL legalization, and in a conversation with Front Office Sports in February, executive Jade-Li English emphasized that the agency is doing its best to be a resource for college and high school athletes in the space.