Wake Basketball Star Tyree Appleby Tries To Correct Spelling Of 'Applebee's' With No-Brainer NIL Partnership

Tyree Appleby has played a big role in leading Wake Forest to the seventh-best record in the ACC. The Demon Deacons' leading scorer is averaging 18.7 points per game in a team-high 36.2 minutes, leads the conference in assists, and recently dropped 35 points in a win over UNC.

In addition to his on-court success, Appleby's last name positioned him well for a no-brainer NIL partnership with Applebee's. It finally came to fruition this week.

Through his NIL deal with the 'Neighborhood Grill + Bar,' Appleby is set out to change the spelling of the restaurant. He wants to replace the "ee" with a "y" to reflect his last name.

His campaign, 'Y NOT?' is live at his website and hopes to get Applebee's to spell its name right. Terms of the deal are undisclosed, but it has been in the works for awhile.

While discussing his new deal with Demon Deacon Digest, Appleby credited Wake Forest and college basketball fans across the country with getting the deal together.


People tagged Applebee’s (on social media posts), and they commented. They got in contact with me. I’ve been waiting for this ever since NIL started, just because the names are so similar.

Appleby's deal with Applebee's sees him star in a few new commercials. Three of them are currently live on his website and they all focus around the restaurant changing its name.

However, the campaign is ongoing and it seems as though he might be the one changing his name when it is all said and done? Here's a behind-the-scenes look:

The rollout of Appleby's newest NIL deal will continue in coming weeks and the site says that there is more coming soon. It also teased a buy one, get one free offer to be used at any North Carolina Applebee's that will be released next week.

In the meantime, Appleby and Applebee's dropped a coupon code for $5 off any $25 purchase to celebrate the launch! This is everything that Name, Image and Likeness was intended to be and more.

Appleby partnering with Applebee's was a no-brainer. It shouldn't have taken this long to come together!