High school hoops, college recruitment, maintaining Kendall’s guard skills while she grew and grew — Tamika could handle it, having done it all herself before starring at LIU Brooklyn in the early 2000s. Tamika graduated as the program’s all-time leader in points and assists, then was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. But in the past two years, after the NCAA began allowing athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL), Tamika was finally stumped.

“For the first time, as a coach and as a mom, it was an area of basketball where I couldn’t be the best adviser for Kendall or my other players,” said Tamika, who coaches Kendall, now a 17-year-old senior, at Sidwell Friends in Washington. “There were a lot of reasons why Kendall signing with an agency this year made sense. But that was a really big factor: I’m not the expert anymore. She needs more guidance than I can offer.”

A company builds with a bold approach: More money to college athletes

The agency just happens to be Klutch Sports Group, the same one that reps LeBron James and A’ja Wilson, to name two of its many stars. So how, exactly, is this allowed?

The NCAA’s change in NIL rules — which took effect July 1, 2021 — permits college and high school athletes to make money through brand deals or receive products in exchange for social media promotion. That means they can work with agents without jeopardizing their eligibility, though some states do restrict NIL activity for high-schoolers. But because Kendall plays in D.C., which doesn’t bar its athletes from profiting off their NIL, she was able to sign with Klutch in December, almost a full year before she will take the court for UCLA.

For Kendall, Klutch will be a guide through a new and evolving market, helping her build a following, make connections in the industry and ultimately screen and land NIL deals. A handful of women’s basketball stars — Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, LSU’s Angel Reese, Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers — have turned college success into massive NIL earnings. USC freshman JuJu Watkins, another Klutch client, is on her way, too.

Klutch signed Kendall, a 6-foot-2 guard, because it believes she can follow a similar path. If she excels at UCLA, a small investment of time and money could lead to a much bigger payday for the agency. And if she plays beyond college, the bet will have been even smarter.

“The whole Klutch brand, it’s crazy that, like, they signed players like A’ja Wilson and they have LeBron and JuJu Watkins,” said Kendall, who was recently named a McDonald’s all-American. “So just to be in the same company as big names like that, it’s motivating me to keep growing as a person and a player. I’m excited to have a connection to those athletes. And then I was like, ‘Oh my god, Rich Paul is dating Adele.’ That also came to mind.”

As Jim Harbaugh leaves college football, will other coaches take up his cause?

“Everyone has their own approach, and everyone has their own investment [with high school players] — because at the end of the day, that’s what it is,” said Jade-Li English, head of women’s basketball at Klutch. “I go after players who are hoopers first and foremost, who I think are going to be game-changing and/or just great for women’s sports.”

The bar, then, is high. That’s no surprise for an agency run by Paul, a longtime friend of James’s who has become one of the most powerful people in basketball. On the women’s side, Klutch has two high-schoolers in Kendall and Jerzy Robinson, who is in the Class of 2026 at Sierra Canyon near Los Angeles (where Bronny James, LeBron’s oldest son, played before enrolling at USC). Klutch also signed Watkins when she was in high school, meaning Kendall and Robinson will not be its first experiences transitioning a teenage girl to college basketball. The agency reps seven women’s players across four major conferences, keeping English busy year-round.

She first saw Kendall play in January 2023 at the Hoophall Classic, where she was drawn to Kendall’s size, ballhandling and shot-making ability. Before comparing her to an NBA star, English hesitated and laughed. But then she went ahead with it anyway: When she recently watched more film of Kendall, she saw a little Kevin Durant.

“She’s a big guard!” English said, eyes wide on a video call. “She can do it all: She is nimble, ballhandling. … She has no ceiling.”

Durant played a bit part in bringing Kendall and Klutch together in the first place. Kendall plays AAU basketball for Team Durant, which is sponsored by the Phoenix Suns star and run by his father. Tamika coaches for the program, and it was a Team Durant parent who first suggested Kendall link up with Klutch.

Tamika wasn’t a total stranger to NIL and the new world it has created. In recent years, she has built Sidwell into one of the top girls’ programs in the country. Kiki Rice, a sophomore for No. 7 UCLA, had a handful of NIL deals when she played for Tamika. So did Jadyn Donovan, now a freshman at Duke. But for the most part, Tamika would help set up photoshoots, open the gym when they needed it, provide support without having a huge role in the process.

Kendall, on the other hand, is not just a star for Sidwell but also Tamika’s only child. When Kendall was 4, Tamika put her in the same basketball clinic over and over, feeling the familiarity would help her gain confidence and feel good about herself. And when they decided Kendall would sign with an agent as a high school senior, they had two options: be a big fish for Ballislife, a multimedia company that has started repping young players for NIL deals, or be a much tinier fish for Klutch, a legacy agency that would have every resource imaginable. A lunch in Washington this past fall with English sealed their choice.

“I felt like our visions really lined up,” Tamika said. “We want to build this slowly. I don’t want Kendall just chasing the bag with every deal she is offered. Not all money is good money.”

To start that slow build, Klutch is helping Kendall grow her social media following. She hasn’t had many NIL offers while at Sidwell. Still, Klutch recently taught her about analytics for Instagram reels, showing Kendall how she can gauge whether a video held people’s attention. Because women’s players have typically thrived with brand deals — not with money from donor-funded NIL collectives — the idea is to begin building her reach now and reap the benefits later.

Playing at UCLA and being in Los Angeles should bring a wave of opportunities. Klutch is pretty familiar with that market, too.

“I’d always like to be able to help mentor and lead people,” Kendall said. “So being in the first group to be doing this at a young age, I’m excited to, like, learn and grow and hopefully help other girls who are striving to be in these positions like I am when they get older.”