SALISBURY — A few years ago, the NCAA changed its rules to allow college athletes to monetize their image. One college-bound senior at West Rowan is using the new rules to build her brand through a partnership with a small business owner in downtown Salisbury.

Lauren Arnold just completed the storybook career most high school athletes can only dream of — back-to-back state championship runs for the Falcons. Now, she is heading off to Mars Hill to continue her basketball and academic pursuits.

Daniel King, also known as Smilez the Barber, knew Arnold through work with the West Rowan basketball program. A former college athlete himself, King remembered what it was like to not always have adequate resources, and he wanted to help out.

The new NCAA rules, which is referred to as NIL or “name, image and likeness,” offered King a way to assist college athletes, which was not available to him as a track and cross-country runner at Livingstone College.

Nilnetwork.com explains the rule clearly.

“Name, image and likeness rights refer to the ability of an individual to control and profit from the use of their name, image and likeness in various forms of media, including advertising, merchandise and video games,” the website says. “These rights have historically been associated with professional athletes and celebrities, but now college athletes also are able to monetize their NIL rights.”

When King learned about NIL, he felt like there was a noticeable absence of commercial opportunities for Rowan County athletes and wanted to do something to change that, but even those immersed in the sports world were still a bit foggy on the new rules.

“When I thought about it, the first time and reached out to the player, he did not know much about it, and his coach did not either,” King said.

That athlete was Jaden Gaither, a Salisbury High football player.

With a male athlete, King was able to offer his services as a barber as well as merchandise like hooded sweatshirts, hats and other accessories. With one success story in the rearview, he turned his attention to another athlete and this time around, he wanted to help a young woman. Arnold seemed like the perfect fit.

King acknowledged that he wouldn’t be able to give Arnold haircuts as he did with the former athlete he worked with but added that he would be open to sponsoring her for visits to her current hairstylist.

Arnold’s hair is very much part of her image. She described her style as Boho knotless braids. Her last session took 12 hours to complete the work.

Arnold is looking forward to continuing to bolster her brand at Mars Hill. Asked about how she would describe her brand, Arnold pointed to how she overcame short-sighted expectations to become a standout on the hardwood.

“The underdog can do it,” Arnold said. “I feel like a lot of times I was overlooked on my teams. Only a select few people believed in me, including (King). I wanted people to know that the underdog can do it.”

There’s more to her than a tenacious drive to silence the opposition.

“I am very family-oriented, not just like blood family, but if you are in my circle, I consider you family,” Arnold said. “Everything I do is to make or attempt to make the people that I surround myself with and love proud.”

She does that on and off the court to the best of her ability.

As she looks toward her future at Mars Hill, Arnold is excited about what it holds.

“It’s a beautiful campus and a family-like athletic structure,” Arnold said.

That’s what appealed to her about the campus.

“Everybody is really close up there, so I like that about it,” Arnold said.

Initially, she planned to study elementary education, but she has been working with young children, and as a result of that experience, she is considering a change to sports and medicine.

King is similarly enthused to see just how far Arnold can go, and with such a promising young woman, he’s more than happy to have his own brand associated with her.

“These companies, they base (NIL deals) off of your performance on and off the court,” King said. “They want their brand to look good … It’s getting my name out there. Anytime someone sees STB (Smilez the Barber) out there, that matters. Name and likeness is everything, and I would not want to put it with anyone who might mess my name up.”

The Salisbury-based barber hopes to continue the tradition he is starting and is open to collaboration with other small business owners in the area.

In the meantime, he wishes Arnold all the best as she takes her next great leap.