The family of five-star Tennessee quarterback commit Faizon Brandon is suing the state of North Carolina over its high school NIL laws, On3’s Jamie Shaw first reported on Monday afternoon.
The lawsuit is about the state’s laws that prohibit high school athletes from making money off of their Name, Image and Likeness. It states that North Carolina’s law jeopardizes Faizon’s “ability to capitalize on life-changing opportunities currently available to him and provide himself and his family with financial security.”
Brandon ranks as a five-star recruit and the No. 5 player in the 2026 recruiting cycle according to the On3 consensus rankings. The Greensboro, North Carolina native is almost unanimously ranked as the top quarterback in his recruiting cycle.
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The North Carolina High School Athletics Association previously had rules that allowed athletes at private schools to profit off Name, Image and Likeness and the organization altered its rules in the spring of 2023 to allow all athletes to do so. However, the state legislature shut down that potential rule and made it illegal for high school athletes to prosper off Name, Image and Likeness deals.
The Brandon family’s lawsuit states that a trading card company already offered Faizon a deal with life changing money back in the spring that he is currently unable to profit off of due to the state law.
North Carolina is just one of eight states that doesn’t allow high school athletes to profit off of Name, Image and Likeness.
Brandon committed to Josh Heupel and Tennessee football earlier this month over a top group that included Alabama, LSU and North Carolina State. The five-star quarterback is one of the top high school juniors in the entire country and at the time became Tennessee football’s first commit in the 2026 recruiting cycle.
