Brandin Cummings, a four-star junior guard at Lincoln Park High School, is one of four basketball standouts local to the Pittsburgh-area to be brand representatives for BRand44.
BRand44 is a new apparel line created by Joe Kirschner, who is a former New Brighton basketball standout and president of the CJ2K Summer basketball league.
RELATED: Pittsburgh AD Heather Lyke: ‘It’s just hard to predict where NIL will go’
Cummings joins Brady Mayo (Beaver Area), Bryson Kirschner (OLSH) and Brayden Reynolds (Fairleigh Dickinson/Chartiers Valley), as the four athletes chosen due to the fact that their names begin with “BR.”
Not only will they be brand reps, but also part owners of the apparel line.
BRand44 stands for “Blanco Rabíto,” which is a nickname Kirschner earned while playing in organized outdoor basketball tournaments after his collegiate career at LaRoche, and 44 was the number Kirschner wore while playing basketball.
1000% committed! ???????? #H2P @Pitt_MBB pic.twitter.com/WNyhcYp97Y
— Brandin Cummings (@ambition___3) January 4, 2023
Kirschner says the goal for the brand is to allow area athletes to express themselves creatively.
Cummings, the younger brother of Pitt standout guard Nelly Cummings, will become a Panther following his graduation date in 2024, as he’s the only commit in Pitt’s 2024 recruiting class at this time.
“I just felt like Pitt was a perfect fit,” Cummings told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Ever since my brother committed to Pitt, I’ve become really close with the team. I’ve been in the locker room after wins and losses. I’ve been to practices and have grown close with a lot of the players. Coach Capel came to my house and described his vision to me and I’m seeing it play out. Pitt is the place I want to be.”
RELATED: Dunkin’ signs 15 Pitt student-athletes to NIL deals: ‘Start to something bigger’
This apparel line was intriguing to Cummings simply because of the fact that it was something new.
“Anything that comes up, that’s new and can get some momentum behind it, I want to be a part of it,” Cummings told the newspaper. “Whenever they approached me about it and explained their reasoning, I was definitely down.”
BRand44’s first product line will launch on Feb. 13, which is ironically, the 44th day of the year.
