Last week, the calendar flipped to 2025. When it did, a new college basketball NIL agency entered the space.
Momentous Sports Partners, founded by Joey Pennavaria and Daniel Hennes, has officially launched as a full-service agency. With an impressive list of 27 clients – headlined by Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson, North Carolina’s R.J. Davis, Baylor’s Jeremy Roach and Auburn’s Johni Broome, among others – the group is off and running in the new venture.
The target clients, though, aren’t the “one-and-done” players hoping to get to the NBA after their freshman year. Instead, Momentous is focusing on players who plan to play multiple years and develop at the collegiate level.
“We want to be somewhat complementary, but also not even necessarily recruiting the same guys as the top NBA agencies,” Pennavaria told On3 in an interview. “Those guys are gonna go after the Cooper Flaggs, the guys that are for-sure one-and-dones. Those were the guys we wanted to recruit.
“But there’s so many more athletes now in college basketball that need representation because they’re professionals, as well, and can make really good money – life-changing money. They’re not NBA deals or NBA-sized deals, but there’s so many of these guys that need this help. That’s the white space that we saw.”
The journey to Momentous’ launch started in 2022. That’s when North Carolina made its run to the Final Four, led by Armando Bacot.
Bacot’s profile took off on the NIL front, landing deals with companies such as RITZ Crackers, Topps, Intuit TurboTax and Wingstop. As he navigated the landscape, Hennes served as a guide, and Bacot later helped lead him to Davis, Dickinson and Roach.
Hennes wasn’t an NIL agent, though. He worked on the marketing side. But a mutual friend connected him with Bacot, and after he helped get Hennes in touch with Pennavaria, the two are joining forces.
“I was at the Final Four this year with Armando, Hunter and Joey, and as Joey started introducing me to a lot of other coaches and agents and players and people that he knew, I sort of realized there was a need for somebody to do this full-service, high-quality NIL representation for NIL’s sake,” Hennes said.
“[We’re] not going to do this for the guys in the pros. We want to come in and just own this white space and really provide the best full-service solution on-court and off-court with that marketing and endorsement stuff for all of our guys.”
Hunter Dickinson, RJ Davis headline Momentous’ roster
Through the connection with Bacot, Daniel Hennes was able to meet some big names in the college basketball space. That includes RJ Davis – Bacot’s best friend at North Carolina – and Hunter Dickinson, who are among the most notable names in college hoops.
“Three awesome individuals, great humans, really good people, good families,” Hennes said. “They were super successful at NIL. Then, people start thinking you’re better at your job than you are when everyone else makes you look good.”
Dickinson is the headliner of Momentous’ NIL roster. He has an On3 NIL Valuation of $1.7 million, which ranks No. 6 in the college basketball NIL rankings. That figure also ranks No. 33 in the On3 NIL 100, the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.
“Joey and Daniel have helped me a ton these last couple of years with navigating NIL, helping me understand the business side of college basketball and made me feel like a partner instead of a typical client,” Dickinson said in a statement to On3. “Thankful to be part of Momentous and feel like what they are doing can benefit a ton of players.”
Davis is another big name as he goes through his final year at North Carolina. His On3 NIL Valuation currently sits at No. 44 in the college basketball NIL rankings while putting together an impressive follow-up to his career year in 2023-24.
“Really excited to be with Momentous,” Davis said to On3. “Daniel and Joey have done great work for me on and off the court for the last couple of years and taught me a lot. They’ve always had my back. What they are doing is really needed in college basketball and I’m excited to be part of it.”
How Momentous plans to be a ‘full-service agency’
With Pennavaria’s basketball background – starting as a student manager at Texas before jumping to the NBA with Jason Glushon of GSM – and Hennes’ on the marketing side as CEO of Engage, Momentous plans to help its athlete roster both on the court and off the court.
“You had, like, INFLCR agencies helping with the marketing side and you had actual agents doing the collective-contract side,” Pennavaria said. “But you didn’t have that full agency that’s doing both, like you do in the NBA, where you’re represented by Excel, you’re represented by GSM or whatever it is and go handle everything across the board. We just didn’t see that.”
When it comes time for players to head to the next level, though, Pennavaria and Hennes will help set them up for the professional level. But while they’re in college, those athletes will have full representation from both the basketball perspective and with marketing.
“We spend 100% of our time meeting with, talking to and being put into this college basketball space. … We’re trying to be the market leaders in this space,” Hennes said.
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