Brevin Galloway opens up on mental health, viral video leading to historic NIL deal

Clemson’s Brevin Galloway has a fascinating story.

While thrust into the spotlight after a viral video explaining his gruesome injury, Galloway wants his legacy to be about more than “exploded nuts.”

The guard spent four seasons playing for the College of Charleston, one season at Boston College, and is now at Clemson for his sixth season of playing college basketball. Through two season-ending injuries, a global pandemic, homesickness, and mental health struggles, basketball has been the lone constant for Galloway.

Since the unfortunate injury, Galloway’s world has been turned upside-down.

NIL deals, interview requests, and “Nutty Professor” memes are now commonplace for the 25-year-old. Notably, Galloway inked a NIL deal with Shinesty, a brand known for its “ball-hammock” underwear. 

“Shinesty offered us the best deal both long-term and short-term for the rest of this year,” Galloway explained in a recent interview with The NIL Deal. “I think the biggest thing I liked about Shinesty was they don’t have a lot of underwear models. And that’s the one thing we talked about, was me potentially being one from here on out.”

According to Galloway, comedic posts are nothing new for him. “It’s a different day and age, people get paid off of this stuff now. I’ve been doing stuff like that anyways since middle school, posting videos.” 

Galloway shared that there could be additional NIL deals in the future, potentially including a custom cup, since he will have to play in one for the rest of the season.

With that said, it’s not all jokes and laughs with Galloway. He is a key piece for a first-place Clemson team and is excited to play for a contender. When asked what’s next after Clemson basketball, Galloway is unsure but hopeful. 

“Going into this year, I thought I was just going to go overseas. But at the same time, with how everything is going this year, I don’t see why not. Why couldn’t I play in the NBA?”

He mentioned that the increased eyes on him after his viral video could only help. “It’s been a beautiful blessing in disguise. I mean, 2–3 weeks from now, if I’m playing good, that’s more eyes on me.”

Galloway is also thrilled that his team is exceeding expectations.

“Nobody was really thinking about us (Clemson) before the season. But I think by March, we’ll really be rolling, which is really when it matters,” he said.

As for the future, Galloway will cross that bridge when he comes to it.

“My biggest focus and my main concern right now is winning an ACC Championship,” Galloway said.

In his first game back from injury, Galloway collected 15 points and four assists for the Tigers.

When people look at Galloway, they see a talented athlete with a fun personality. However, Galloway has also not been shy about his personal mental health battles. During the COVID season, Galloway tore his ACL. This setback was followed by news that his coach was leaving to take the job at Boston College.

“I was like, damn, my future’s up in the air,” said Galloway. “During that time period, I was obviously stressed, depressed, and had a lot of suicidal thoughts just because I was scared and nervous about everything.”

Eventually, Galloway decided to follow his coach to Boston.

“I left my family, I left my pets, and all of that had a big effect on me.”

It was during this time that Galloway ballooned from 215 pounds to 260. The seasonal depression also kicked in, with the South Carolina native not being used to the long, cold winters of the Northeast. To top it all off, in his first game at Boston College, Galloway tore his meniscus.

“I was like damn, I can’t catch a break,” he recalled. 

Luckily for Galloway, he was granted an additional year of eligibility due to the injury. With that in mind, Galloway knew he wanted to come home, and Clemson was the perfect option. While his time at Boston was not easy, Galloway says, looking back now, it was a blessing.

“I know now I’m going to be able to get through anything if I just keep working. No situation can define you.” 

Galloway wants anyone going through similar mental health struggles to know that it gets better.

“Looking at last year, I never really thought I would see this light. You never know what can happen in a year. Being able to have a positive impact on people’s lives is worth way more than all this other stuff I’m doing,” he said.