The current University of Hawaii football player with the most local name recognition is quarterback Chevan Cordeiro.
But thanks to Netflix, the most famous Rainbow Warrior nationally on the roster — for now, anyway — is senior running back and punt returner Dior Scott.
He didn’t play much last fall at UH, but Scott’s inspirational story was documented on “Last Chance U” when the series went to Laney College near Oakland.
That’s where Scott scrambled to survive, with a full-time job and living out of his car while playing junior college football and working toward an associate’s degree in 2019.
The season featuring Scott (then known as Dior Walker-Scott) and his Laney teammates debuted via streaming in July 2020, around the time he was getting settled in for his first season at Hawaii.
It gave fans of sports and human interest stories something to watch last year during some of the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Scott and the other student-athletes featured on “Last Chance U” could not receive payment. If they did, it would jeopardize their dreams of making it to Division I, which is a major theme of the show.
“They wanted so bad to help us out, but everyone knew they couldn’t,” Scott said.
Everything has changed in the wake of last month’s Supreme Court ruling about compensation for student-athletes and the new NCAA rules regarding name, image and likeness.
And the recognition garnered from those unpaid appearances on a very popular Netflix show could become a source of income for Scott.
With his first name, and his nickname of DiGiorno, Scott is a natural to endorse high-end fashion and frozen pizzas, right?
He laughed at that notion. Scott’s not out for a fast buck and is taking a different approach, and it’s something he has thought about for a long time.
“I came up with it in junior college, the last couple of months,” Scott said. “I was just layin’ down in my friend’s room and thinking of stuff, and it came to me. Being a stray dog relates a lot to me, so I wrote down some notes. What I really want to do is help young people coming from tough situations.”
As it became more apparent student-athletes would have more control over NIL, Scott began to work with Resin8, a marketing and design group to develop a merchandise brand called StrayDawg.
“Philanthropy is Dior’s main motivation, because of how hard he has had to work to make it,” said Wynn Silberman, Resin8 co-founder. “Right now, though, we all know it’s important to be very cautious and work carefully with UH, the NCAA and the government.”
There was a bill in the 2020 state legislature with the intent to “allow athletes to receive compensation for the use of their name, image, or likeness.”
Maybe the fact that the bill died is irrelevant because of the recent NCAA and SCOTUS rulings.
But other states have enacted laws with specific and detailed guidelines for student-athletes and NIL (including helpful tips, like don’t forget about taxes). Florida was the first.
That’s why former Mililani and UCF star quarterback McKenzie Milton, now at Florida State, could move so quickly to get his venture up and running as soon as the NCAA ruling came out.
Milton co-founded Dreamfield with University of Miami quarterback D’Eriq King. The platform (at dreamfield.co) is a directory of college athletes and their hourly rates for appearances.
From its homepage: “Supercharge your marketing efforts by booking local college sport superstars. Dreamfield makes it easy to create memorable events and outstanding marketing campaigns.”
Nearly 100 college football and basketball players are already listed. Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral has a $10,000 hourly rate; Milton and King are listed at $2,000 each.
“This is an opportunity for me to get my foot in the door to start being an entrepreneur, but this is also something that I’m passionate about, helping college athletes monetize off their name, image and likeness,” Milton said on ESPN.com last week. “This should have been something going on for a while, but now it’s here, and it’s a cool opportunity.”
For some, though, like Dior Scott, the clock is ticking. His cause is worthy and his story is heartwarming, but it will cool off when the next one similar comes along. The sooner the state and UH help with clear guidelines in regards to NIL, the better for the student-athletes.
