DENVER — As only Drew Timme can, the senior forward went from a poignant description of his four seasons at Gonzaga to a perfect description of his freshly-shaven mustache in a matter of seconds.
“I feel like I’ve spent the longest time of my life here but also the quickest,” said Timme, who recently announced he will pursue professional basketball and skip a potential fifth year at Gonzaga. “It’s just been the perfect storm for me of work, fun, hard, easy, just all these different things.
“It’s just been the best and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Next question: What’s with benching his celebrated beard for a mustache?
“The mustache is my moneymaker around this time of year,” Timme smiled. “So yeah, I shaved.”
One of Timme’s name, image and likeness (NIL) deals is with Pringles potato chips. An image of his face and horseshoe mustache adorns the side of the cylinder-shaped cans in Pringles “March Mustache Collection” that also features Duke’s Dariq Whitehead and Virginia’s Ben Vander Plas.
Through April 4, fans are asked to show off their mustaches, real or not, on Instagram with the hashtag #PringlesMarchMustacheEntry for a chance at winning the chip can collection.
“We’ve got a lot of baby faces on our team,” said Timme, when asked which teammate he would nominate to enter the contest. “Rasir (Bolton) has a little one, Efton (Reid), ’Ton (Anton Watson). I’d say one of those three, but I’ve never seen Anton give his a chance.”
Timme presently has about 20 NIL deals in place.
“His agents will bring them and we try to screen everything,” said Timme’s mom, Megan. “But we have to balance them and school, so we try to be careful about not overloading him.”
Timme’s teammates were particularly fond of his agreement with Beats. He hooked up his teammates with wireless headphones.
“Very appreciative. I think they’re the Solo3s, they’re the highest ones you can get,” said Reid, grabbing the headphones off a hook from his locker at Ball Arena. “I enjoy them a lot.”
Reid also enjoys discussing facial hair strategies with Timme, even if they have different approaches.
“We’ve been talking about our beards,” Reid said. “He’s been asking me how many times I shave, do I just do a mustache sometimes. I like to keep my beard trimmed to be honest. I’ve never really done it like his. His is unique.”
Reid is confident Timme will come through with some Pringles, so much so that he placed his order: “I like the sour cream ones.”
Julian Strawther, who has a growing portfolio of local and national NIL deals, surveyed the locker room for teammates to compare with Timme.
“He’s in a class of his own,” Strawther shrugged. “Efton’s got the beard action going, but that’s about all we got.”
Walk-on Colby Brooks interjected, “I’ve got a little stuff going on,” but that was quickly rejected by Strawther.
“He’s a 16 seed for sure.”
Strawther’s NIL agreements include Krocs and Wake Up Call coffee and upcoming ones with Amazon Prime and TurboTax.
It’s a whole new world from when he arrived at Gonzaga and experienced the COVID-19 season in 2021.
“It’s hard to put into words,” he said of the changes, including NIL being in place for the last two seasons. “Last year I didn’t want to do too much NIL, but I’m taking advantage of opportunities a little bit this year and it’s insane. I can’t imagine what it’s like for Drew.”
Strawther is hoping to set up his teammates with new Crocs. He’s particularly excited about working with TurboTax.
“They’re going to help me do my taxes,” Strawther said. “So that’s huge because this is all new to me. This is like the first time I’ve really got to lock in on my taxes.”
Reid is fully supportive of athletes landing NIL deals.
“It’s good for student-athletes like us to get to profit,” he said. “I support them 100%. I tell Drew, ‘You know, make as much money as you can. Why not?’ “