Can high school athletes in South Carolina do NIL deals?

No — and this is a recent reversal that most national trackers have missed. The current SCHSL By-Laws state a student 'may NOT earn compensation from the use of their name, image, and likeness.' The 2024-25 edition permitted NIL with conditions; the 2025-26 revision inserted 'not' into that sentence, and the 2026-27 edition carries the prohibition forward. Confusingly, the old conditional bullet list still sits beneath the reversed sentence — an incomplete edit that has already caused published trackers to misread the rule as permissive. The operative sentence is unambiguous: no NIL compensation.

South Carolina High School NIL Rules (SCHSL)

What's allowed

Nothing. South Carolina does not permit NIL compensation for high school athletes.

What's prohibited

All NIL compensation (Article III, Section 14.B)
School logos, school name, school mascot, or any SCHSL logo or acronyms
School apparel or equipment displaying those marks
Use of any member-school facility for NIL compensation
Endorsing activities in conflict with local district policy (examples given: tobacco, alcohol)
Compensation contingent on athletic performance
Compensation as an enrollment or retention incentive
Compensation from the school or any person acting as an agent for the school

What the document is silent on

Silence is not permission and not prohibition — the governing document simply does not address these. We list them because most summaries wrongly convert silence into "no".

parental consent
athlete-side agent representation
collectives (the word never appears)
NIL-specific disclosure

Parental consent, disclosure & representation

Parental consent required

Not addressed

Disclosure required

No

School marks allowed

No

Agent / representation addressed

Not addressed

State-law status

S.C. Code § 59-158 defines 'intercollegiate athlete' as an individual who HAS GRADUATED from high school — the statute does not reach current high schoolers (verified directly against scstatehouse.gov). No conflict.

Who sets this rule

South Carolina High School League (SCHSL) sets South Carolina's high school eligibility rules. High school NIL is governed by private association bylaws — not federal law, and in most states not statute — which is why the answer differs state to state and can change in a single handbook cycle.

Sources

2026-27 SCHSL By-Laws — Article III, Section 14 (Amateur Status) (July 13, 2026)
A student may not earn compensation from the use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL) in compliance with Article III, Section 14 (Amateur Status) of the SCHSL bylaws to include, but not limited to:
2024-25 SCHSL By-Laws (prior, permissive text — for the reversal record) (July 1, 2024)
A student may earn compensation from the use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL) in compliance with Article III, Section 14 (Amateur Status)...
S.C. Code Title 59, Chapter 158 (May 21, 2024)

Governing text effective July 1, 2025.

Change history

July 19, 2026 — Initial publication from primary-source research pass (adversarially verified; see citations).

Not legal advice. This page documents publicly available rules and is not legal advice. Rules change, and associations do not always announce changes. Confirm anything you rely on with the governing association, your school compliance office, or your own counsel before acting.

Spot an error? Tell us and cite the source — we re-check the primary source before changing anything, and record what changed.