Ole Miss forward Jaemyn Brakefield is getting the job done on the court and, thanks to NIL, making a difference off it.
Jaemyn Brakefield Showing the Bright Side of NIL
The Ole Miss graduate student forward is averaging 11 points for a 22-11 Rebels men’s basketball team that’s expecting to receive an NCAA Tournament bid Sunday evening. He became the 43rd member of the school’s 1,000-point club last season.
Brakefield’s already earned a degree in multidisciplinary studies with minors in recreation administration, education and criminal justice. He is currently working towards an M.A. in Higher Education and Student Personnel.
Ole Miss forward Jaemyn Brakefield met Brandon Hill – who was his Huntington Prep (WV) coach’s nephew – eight years ago. They have since built an unbreakable bond.
Hill moved to Oxford and Brakefield is able to use his NIL money to help change his circumstances.
“I’m somebody… pic.twitter.com/ejb2hQbV0k
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 14, 2025
For the past two seasons, he was placed on the SEC Men’s Basketball Community Service team, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him named again this season.
All of those notable achievements and accomplishments pale in comparison to what the Jackson, Mississippi native is doing right now. And NIL has helped make it all possible.
Jaemyn Brakefield’s Roommate in Oxford
It is not customary for a 24-year-old graduate student to have a 16-year-old roommate, but that’s because Brakefield has taken on a special task. Brandon Hill, currently a junior at Oxford High School, moved down to Mississippi ahead of the school year at Brakefield’s request.
Before he was a solid four-year contributor for the Rebels with legitimate professional basketball aspirations, before he spent one year in Durham, North Carolina, playing in 22 games and making the All-ACC Academic team at Duke, Brakefield was a standout at prep powerhouse Huntington Prep in West Virginia.
Brakefield, a 6’8″, 225-pounder, was a five-star power forward, ranked as the No. 29 overall player in ESPN’s rankings for the Class of 2020. He was named West Virginia’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a sophomore, junior, and senior. According to the Ole Miss men’s basketball website, Brakefield was the first player to accomplish that feat.
While at Huntington, Brakefield met Hill, the nephew of his varsity coach, Arkell Bruce. Hill grew up similarly to Brakefield in a single-parent home. He wasn’t a fan of Hill’s environment in West Virginia.
“There’s a lot of violence in Huntington. There’s a lot of drug abuse,” Brakefield told CBS Sports in January. “There’s a lot of obesity. A lot of the things I see in him were so great. I wanted to remove him from the situation that he was in.”
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Thanks to a substantial NIL deal Brakefield signed bringing him back to Oxford for his graduate student season, he was able to do just that. And the changes for Hill began occurring almost immediately. With a set daily schedule, Hill’s grades improved, he lost 50 pounds, and he competed on Oxford High’s football team last fall.
While Hill took advantage of the change of scenery, Brakefield added PTA participant to his own already stacked calendar.
“Brake is one of the best basketball players in the SEC, gonna be a professional basketball player,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard told CBS Sports. “He goes to PTA meetings. He has a real relationship with (Brandon). It’s like a big brother-little brother, father-son-type relationship, but it’s only possible because of Brake’s discipline and how he lives his life.”
NIL has sparked a plethora of opinions, many of which are negative. Players competing for multiple schools in four years by transferring to the highest bidder have left many college sports fans shaking their heads. But in this case, it was also responsible for the two-story house Brakefield and Hill reside in.
“A lot of people say ‘you changed Brandon’s life,’ but Brandon’s changing my life,” Brakefield told CBS Sports. “I’m somebody who always wanted to be a father figure. I feel like I’ve always been a big brother to somebody because that’s what my brothers did for me. So it was just natural.”
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