Few Illinois student-athletes have taken advantage of opportunities to profit off of their name, image and likeness as much as super-senior point guard Trent Frazier have.

But Frazier isn’t just using NIL payments for extra spending money – he wants to make an impact on his community.

“To come from where I come from, having an opportunity to have a few extra hundred dollars in your pocket and to give back to my community is awesome,” Frazier said. “That’s why I want to do it.

When the NIL era of college sports began in July, there were a ton of questions about the type of endorsement deals student-athletes would be able to profit from, and just a few months later they're still a ton of questions about this new era of college sports.

But Frazier seemed to know that he could capitalize on the image he has built during his time at Illinois. The Wellington, Fla., native has played in 126 career games at Illinois and has started 107 of them – he’s likely going to break the program record of 139 career games this season barring an unforeseen circumstance.

Frazier signed endorsement deals with delivery company GoPuff and local favorite Jarlings Custard Cup. While those two deals are all well and good, two other partnerships – one with Health Alliance and one with Housing Authority of Champaign County - have allowed him to give back to his community.

With Health Alliance, a health insurance company in the Midwest, Frazier shared that he has received the Covid-19 vaccine, while also urging others to go get vaccinated in an effort to make the Illinois basketball season as close to normal as possible.

“I got vaccinated for my teammates, my coaching staff, friends, my family, people in the community,” Frazier said. “I think it’s the right thing to do because it’s going to protect my teammates, my coaching staff and help us have a full season. That’s what I want to do because in the end, I know it’s going to be good for this program to have a full season.”

The Housing Authority of Champaign County has a mission of creating “quality living environments as a foundation for individuals to achieve their full potential,” according to the organization’s website. The Housing Authority offered Frazier an opportunity to speak with local youth while sharing his story and passing on some life advice.

“It was awesome,” Frazier said. “I remember being in those chairs with someone else at a high level talking to me like that. Having an opportunity to go into the community and talk about my life and how I got to where I’m at in my life right now is special to me.”

There are still a ton of unknowns about the NIL world, but student-athletes like Frazier have found ways to help others around them, while still helping themselves financially. Really, that’s what Frazier cares the most about, making an impact for the kids he has an opportunity to influence.

“I hope I inspired those kids to head down the right track and believe in their dreams,” Frazier said. “I want to continue to take advantage of NIL in the right way. Having this opportunity to be a role model in the community is special.”