MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Six months ago, parameters were put in place for West Virginia high school and middle school athletes to enter into name, image and likeness agreements with businesses in exchange for compensation.
Morgantown High School junior guard Kayli Kellogg is one of the first athletes in West Virginia to enter into an NIL contract. Kellogg will be a community brand ambassador for Vision Homes, a residential new home building company based in North Central West Virginia. As part of the agreement, Kellogg’s collaboration will include social media promotions, community engagement events, and local outreach initiatives.
Excited to announce I have secured the first ever high school NIL deal in West Virginia!! Honored to partner with @VisionHomesWV a residential new-home building company serving North Central West Virginia!! Can’t wait!! @RockyT_2244 pic.twitter.com/R7VWB274Wz
— Kayli Kellogg (@kayli_kellogg) February 20, 2026
“I am very interested in real estate for when I grow up. I think Rocky [Simmons] had known that a little bit. We both have forward-thinking mindsets. So just talking about it, it made sense. That’s kind of how it started,” Kellogg said.
“I will be making posts on Instagram, social media and all of my platforms. I am sure we will see those a couple times a month. And I will do some community things for Vision Homes and promote them by being a guest at some of their events. Getting community involvement and also on social media is where we are at right now.”
In August, the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission became the 44th state to put a name, image and likeness policy in place, outlining what is permissible for athletes to maintain their eligibility. The policy was approved by the State Board of Education. Kellogg and her family checked with compliance officials at the WVSSAC during the process of creating the NIL deal.
“When [the rule] passed, I thought this was a huge opportunity for our state and our community if I could get a deal for younger athletes to look up to me and know that they could do it too,” Kellogg said.
“I hope people will see this and they will have their own opportunities themselves. There’s a lot of kids in the state that could have their own NIL deal, whether it is big or local. Showing kids that they can do it too is a lot of the goal here.”
“There were 43 other state high school associations that had it in place,” said WVSSAC Executive Director Wayne Ryan on Thursday’s edition of the Citynet Statewide Sportsline. “We felt it was important to put it in place because we didn’t want our players to do anything in today’s age of marketing and all the businesses that try to get involved, we didn’t want our high school athletes to put their eligibility in jeopardy or the school team’s eligibility in jeopardy. So we put the policy in place to be preventive and helpful in that situation.”
Ryan added that to his knowledge, Kellogg’s deal is the first of its kind in West Virginia.
The WVSSAC NIL policy states that athletes may not reference their school or use school logos as part of their agreements.
Kellogg is hopeful that more student-athletes will soon benefit from NIL deals similar to hers.
“It is pretty cool to say that I am the first girl in high school basketball in West Virginia to have the NIL deal. That’s pretty cool and I will carry that for a long time,” Kellogg said.
Kellogg has earned Class AAAA first team all-state status in each of her first two seasons at Morgantown High School and she led the Mohigans to back-to-back runner-up finishes at the state tournament. As a sophomore, Kellogg averaged 21 points, five rebounds and five assists per contest.
Kellogg has not played for MHS this season after undergoing knee surgery last July.
“Rehab has been going good and I am on track. I will hopefully be back in a few months, a couple months, I am not really sure when, but soon. Continuing to rehab and get my knee healthy is my focus right now,” Kellogg said.
“Just being the voice off the court on the bench and helping [teammates]. We have a lot of young players, so just being experienced and try to help them through it, calm them down and tell them what I see out there too. Being there, I have become a better leader. Being there for them is my goal.”
Kellogg’s father, Mark, is in his third season as the head coach of the WVU women’s basketball team.
Kellogg holds multiple Division I scholarship offers and she is hopeful that this experience of crafting an NIL deal while still in high school will be a benefit to her at the college level.
“It has given me an inside look at what is to come. It has helped me before I get to college and have to make adult decisions, I kind of got a little insight and a little head start on it. Being able to do that at a young age is really cool.”