Through the new Chatham-based sports and training club SUPA (Supreme Athletics), local standout athletes Gabby White and Amber Brown have signed name, image and likeness deals with Greatness Wins, a sports apparel line founded by UNTUCKit founder Chris Riccobono, Hall of Famers Derek Jeter and Wayne Gretzky and American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Misty Copeland. […]
Through the new Chatham-based sports and training club SUPA (Supreme Athletics), local standout athletes Gabby White and Amber Brown have signed name, image and likeness deals with Greatness Wins, a sports apparel line founded by UNTUCKit founder Chris Riccobono, Hall of Famers Derek Jeter and Wayne Gretzky and American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Misty Copeland.
The athletes received a large quantity of clothing from the company in the deal. Greatness Wins also fitted SUPA’s track and field coaches with custom-made gear.
White and Brown are the first SUPA athletes to sign an NIL deal. They did a photoshoot in the Greatness Wins apparel Friday at Seaforth.
“I’m not only excited for Amber and Gabby, but I’m excited for the other athletes that we have coming up to see what we can offer for them as well,” Latonya Brown, owner of SUPA and mother of Amber, said.
White, a senior, was a star for the Seaforth girls’ basketball team over the last four seasons, earning multiple all-conference, all-district and all-state honors. The Virginia-bound 2025 McDonald’s All-American nominee isn’t new to being the face of a brand as she was in a 2022 advertisement for Dribbleup, a company that sells smart sports equipment.
“I think it’s pretty cool the way kids these days can make money for themselves,” White said. “I think it’s really just a blessing to be able to make money in a different way that’s both fun, entertaining and also hardworking.”
Brown, an eighth grader at Pollard Middle, is a three-time Junior Olympian in the long jump and has earned All-American status for the 2024 indoor and outdoor seasons and the 2025 indoor season. She’s also had previous experience working with brands as she’s modeled for Adidas and Champion.
“I think it’s important for my athletic career because it puts a spotlight on me, and it allows me to get noticed by college coaches,” Brown said. “I think it’s going to do really well for me in my career, and it’s going to be able to get my name out there.”
White and Brown’s NIL deals come months after a Wake County judge Graham Shirley II signed an order legalizing NIL in North Carolina’s public schools in October.
The North Carolina State Board of Education banned athletes at public schools from profiting off NIL in June, but months later, Shirley ruled the Board was not authorized to do so.
“I was really happy when I found out that they finally legalized it because I felt like high school athletes in North Carolina should have been able to have NIL,” White said.
Athletes must complete the required steps such as taking an NFHS NIL course and reporting the NIL deal to their school, and the school must report the deal to the principal, athletic director, public school unit athletic director, public school unit chair, local superintendent and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
Under this new landscape of public school athletics in North Carolina, SUPA hopes to negotiate more deals on behalf of its athletes.
Latonya Brown and her husband Quincy started SUPA in October, beginning with the track team. They found a need for an AAU and USA Track and Field track club in Chatham County after driving their daughter to and from Durham for training.
“My husband and I decided to talk to some of the community to see if this was something that they would get behind, and they did,” Brown said. “We had a handful of people sign a petition for a proposal to bring over to Dr. St. Clair (Seaforth’s principal) to ask if we could use Seaforth’s facilities for our track team here. The new AD was just getting on board, and so once he was able to get with us and meet with us, it was decided that we could come out here.”
Right now, SUPA is training 15 athletes. Others have received impressive accolades under SUPA, including Pollard student Madison Godfrey who earned her first All-American title in shot put in March. The club invites all athletes, regardless of sport.
“We foresee us growing into a brand for all athletes whether it be volleyball, basketball, girls’ flag football,” Brown said. “Any type of indoor and outdoor sports, we foresee it becoming a brand for Chatham County and local surrounding schools as well.”
