Adrien Nunez

Last updated

Adrien Nunez
20250403 Adrien Nunez at meet and greet during Low Road Tour 05.jpg
Nunez in April 2025
Born (1999-05-14) May 14, 1999 (age 26)
Alma mater University of Michigan
Occupations
  • Influencer
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active2021–present
Musical career
Genres
Labels
TikTok information
Page
Followers6.6 million
Likes484 million
Instagram information
Page
Followers734 thousand

Last updated: May 11, 2025
Basketball career
Personal information
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school Millennium
(Manhattan, New York)
Bishop Loughlin
(Brooklyn, New York)
St. Thomas More
(Oakdale, Connecticut)
College Michigan (2018–2022)
NBA draft 2022: undrafted
Career history
2023 Metros de Santiago

Adrien Nunez [a] (born May 14, 1999) is an American social media influencer, singer-songwriter, and former college basketball player.

Contents

He was a high school basketball player at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. He excelled during his postgraduate year garnering many scholarship offers and earning accolades at St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Connecticut. He was part of a highly rated class during his 201819 freshman year for the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team of the Big Ten Conference. As a student athlete and a Wolverines member, Nunez earned three consecutive Academic All-Big Ten recognitions and went to the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Despite his limited role on the basketball court, he became the team's most popular social media creator during the COVID-19 pandemic. The June 2021 Supreme Court National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston ruling prior to his senior season, which made student athlete compensation permissible, helped Nunez to attract many high-profile corporate sponsors and partners and make him one of the highest paid college athletes. After graduating, he began promoting other country music musicians through his social media platform and then he started releasing his own music. Within three months of his new music release, Billboard announced he was signed to the Warner Music Nashville and Warner Records music labels. He subsequently continued to release music and appeared on music tours as well as at music festivals. He has supported tour-headliners Luke Bryan and Myles Smith. He has also signed record contracts with Sony Music Publishing and William Morris Endeavor.

Youth

Nunez was born to a Dominican-American family of Jenny Lessard and Martin Nunez in Manhattan, New York. Martin owns a food market chain. [4] [3] They later moved to Brooklyn. [5] As a youth, Adrien was a skateboarder, snowboarder, and video gamer before picking up a basketball in seventh grade when his father encouraged him to fit playing basketball into his schedule alongside his time expenditure on video games. [6] He played on his middle school basketball team and then attended Millennium High School in Lower Manhattan for his freshman year, where he played a year of basketball before transferring to Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. He played junior varsity basketball there as a sophomore. [7] Nunez was a reserve player for Bishop Loughlin varsity basketball team as a junior and senior. [8] At Bishop Loughlin, he averaged 4.8 points per game in the primary role of screener and undersized big man on a 2017 New York Catholic High School Athletic Association semifinalist team led by Keith Williams and Markquis Nowell who had also played for Bishop Loughlin. Upon graduation, Nunez had only one NCAA Division II basketball scholarship offer from Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts. [6] He did attract strong interest from future Michigan Wolverines assistant coach Phil Martelli, who wanted to recruit him at Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia. [9] However, he decided to study for a postgraduate year at St. Thomas More Prep in Connecticut. [8]

Hard work and the chance to demonstrate his outside shooting on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit earned him Division I mid-major offers from Fordham in The Bronx, New York and Bowling Green in Bowling Green, Ohio. Soon, more offers came in, including Atlantic 10 Conference schools VCU in Richmond, Virginia and Saint Joseph's. Penn State was his first high major offer. By the time Michigan entered the fray, Texas A&M in College Station, Texas and Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts had already given him offers. [6] In addition Nunez had multiple offers from Ivy League basketball programs. [10] He committed to Michigan in early October 2017 following his official visit to Ann Arbor. [6] At St. Thomas More, he averaged 15.5 points per game and 5 rebounds, earning 2018 All-NEPSAC AAA first team honors. [4] He finished his high school career as the 305th best basketball athlete and 62nd best shooting guard in the national class of 2018 per 247Sports' composite rating. [10]

College basketball

20200212 Adrien Nunez Michigan at Northwestern.jpg
Nunez wearing number 5 for the 2019–20 Wolverines; David DeJulius in number 0. February 2020
Adam Miller Adrien Nunez (3x4 cropped).jpg
Nunez wearing number 0 for the 2020–21 Wolverines, March 2021

Nunez visited the Michigan Wolverines team on September 29, 2017, gave a verbal commitment on October 2, and signed a National Letter of Intent on November 10. [11] He joined a Michigan's 2018 class which included Ignas Brazdeikis, David DeJulius, Colin Castleton, and Brandon Johns. It was ranked among the top ten incoming classes in college basketball. At 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), 175 pounds (79 kg), Nunez committed to join the 2018–19 Michigan Wolverines who were, at the time he has signed, the defending 2017 Big Ten men's basketball tournament champions. [8] When he joined the team, they were defending 2018 Big Ten men's basketball tournament champions and the defending 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament runner-up. [12] [13] [14] [15]

Nunez played for Michigan from 20182022, helping the 2020–21 Wolverines earn the 2020–21 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season championship and reach its third, fourth, and fifth consecutive NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Sweet Sixteen. Meanwhile, Nunez also earned individual honors as a student athlete with three consecutive Big Ten Conference All-Academic recognitions. [4] As a freshman, he played in 20 games and only scored 3 points, but with the departure of Jordan Poole, Brazdeikis, and Charles Matthews as well as the 2019 coaching change from John Beilein to Juwan Howard, Nunez had an opportunity for a more prominent role as a sophomore. [16] Nunez appreciated coach Howard's technique, which helped Nunez upgrade his defensive deficiencies by repeating drills until he got it right. [9] When Franz Wagner was out of the 2019–20 Wolverines' lineup for four games, Nunez started in his place, scoring a career high 8 points on November 22, 2019 against Houston Baptist College from Houston. [17] [4] After Wagner returned to the lineup, Nunez struggled with his shooting and his defense, resulting in a limited role. [2]

After his sophomore season, he switched from jersey number 5 to number 0 (which DeJulius had been wearing) to make way for incoming freshman Terrance Williams to wear number 5. [18] After playing just 7.6 minutes per game as a sophomore, Nunez decided to stay with Michigan rather than entering the NCAA transfer portal. [19] He committed to this decision, though his former AAU coach was being inundated with inquiries whether Nunez was considering leaving Michigan. Nunez later said that the only time during his career that he contemplated transferring to another school that might have offered a more prominent role on the court was immediately following coach Beilein's surprise departure. Instead, Nunez sought out a role on the scout team during his final two seasons. [20]

Nunez played professionally for Dominican Republic basketball team Metros de Santiago in 2023. [21] He appeared in one game for six minutes. [22]

Social media

After Juwan Howard (standing) became Michigan's coach, Nunez (second to the left of Howard) never thought of transferring. February 2020 20200212 Adrien Nunez-Juwan Howard.jpg
After Juwan Howard (standing) became Michigan's coach, Nunez (second to the left of Howard) never thought of transferring. February 2020

Despite a limited role on the court, Nunez became his team's most followed player on TikTok and Instagram after posting his first TikTok video on January 13, 2020, and becoming active on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. [23] By May 2020, he had over 40,000 TikTok followers. [9] After the Supreme Court of the United States ruling in the 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston case, student athlete compensation, such as payment for name, image, and likeness (NIL), became allowable for NCAA scholarship athletes beginning on July 1, 2021. [24] Within months, he became the highest earning player on his team despite having never played more than four minutes in a game the prior season and having limited prospects for playing time behind Eli Brooks, Caleb Houstan, Kobe Bufkin, Zeb Jackson, and Terrance Williams. [10]

As a senior for the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, he became one of the highest earning NIL players in the country earning more than projected NBA draft lottery pick Jaden Ivey, although Nunez played less than 5 minutes per game as a senior and averaged less than a point per game for his career (61 points in 62 games). [25] [26] He had a multi-million follower fan base on TikTok as a senior. For several months, he navigated the NIL marketplace on his own before hiring an agent. [20] His senior season sponsors and partners included Celsius, CashApp, SoFi, Spotify, Coach, Amazon, Coca-Cola, and Pizza Hut. [25] [20] After graduating he began promoting country music such artists as Shaboozey, Graham Barham, and Avery Anna. When the single "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" earned a RIAA certified platinum status, Shaboozey's label credited Nunez giving him a platinum plaque. [27] The song had a record setting run on the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing in chart leaderboards such musicians as Carrie Underwood's "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. [28] [29]

Music

Nunez' musical influences are a mix of country, pop and hip-hop. [5] On August 29, 2024, Nunez released his debut single "Low Road". [27] In August 2024, his early work was noted for its Shazam traction in South Africa. [30] By this time, Nunez had moved from Los Angeles to Nashville. [27] He made his stage debut on September 25 in Nashville two days before releasing a collaborative version of "Low Road" with Avery Anna. [31] In October 2024, Nunez released "Minnesota". [27] [32] On October 9, MusicRow announce he had signed with William Morris Endeavor for exclusive representation. [33] He was added to the C2C: Country to Country music festival lineup in the same month. [34] By October, he announced that he would tour in support of Dasha in November 2024 and Avery Anna that December. [27] [35] [36]

In late November 2024, Nunez signed to Warner Music Nashville and Warner Records, following the viral success of "Low Road". [37] [1] He achieved 50 million views and 5 million streams in his first days as a creative artist as well as hundreds of thousands of new TikTok followers. [5] On the other hand, Nunez claims the 5 million figure is attributed only to Spotify (a claim republished by Sports Illustrated ) [36] and across all platforms the total number of streams reached 10 million. [27] Nunez's debut song on a major label, "Apology Song", was released by the time of the announcement of his signing. [1]

On January 9, Nunez alongside country artist Zach Top were predicted among the 50 selectees to the Shazam Fast Forward 2025 Artists based on the assessment and insights of trends on Shazam's data and algorithms. [30] On January 17, Amazon Music placed him on the list of "2025 Artists to Watch". [38] By the end of the month, Hits magazine listed him as a supporting act for Myles Smith and named Spring 2025 as an expected release date for his debut album. [39] On January 27, Luke Bryan announced his Summer 2025 Country Song Came On Tour supporting acts, which included Nunez on several of the summer dates. [40] In mid-February, Nunez announced the Adrien Nunez Low Road World Tour, which included his first ever U.S. headline run (with special guest Brody Clementi) as well as European dates in support of Smith and three C2C festival dates. [41] [42] [43] On July 23, 2025, Nunez signed a global publishing administration agreement with Sony Music Publishing Nashville. [44] [45] On July 25, he released the single "WILD". [46]

Notes

  1. Also spelled Adrien Nuñez [2] and Adrien Núñez [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Holthouse, Jerry (November 2024). "Warner Music Nashville Signs Adrien Nunez". Nashville.com. Archived from the original on November 15, 2024. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Kahn, Andrew (May 8, 2020). "Adrien Nuñez, still here, will try to recapture his shooting stroke for Michigan basketball". MLive.com . Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Adrien Núñez, único dominicano que busca seguir avanzando en Locura de Marzo" [Adrien Núñez, the only Dominican looking to continue advancing in March Madness] (in Spanish). ESPN. March 30, 2021. Archived from the original on January 12, 2025. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Adrien Nunez". Michigan Wolverines. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Cantrell, LB (November 15, 2024). "Adrien Nunez Signs With Warner Music Nashville/Warner Records". MusicRow . Archived from the original on December 2, 2024. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Braziller, Zach (October 13, 2017). "Brooklyn recruit takes long route to chase down Division I dream". New York Post . Archived from the original on December 2, 2024. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  7. Nunez, Adrien (July 8, 2021). "Q&A: How I went from Skater Boy to D1 Basketball Player, How to Deal with Long Distance, and More!". Adrien Nunez 2nd channel. YouTube. Event occurs at 0:43. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 Hawkins, James (November 10, 2017). "Brandon Johns' signing tops off Michigan's prized recruit class". Detroit News . Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 Kopnick, Jacob (May 5, 2020). "The trials and tribulations of Adrien Nunez". Michigan Daily . Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 Yost, Kyle (October 29, 2021). "Player Profile: Adrien Nunez is making the most of where he is". SB Nation . Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  11. "Adrien Nunez Timeline Events". 247Sports . Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  12. Wyrot, Tom (March 4, 2018). "Back-to-Back: Wagner, Teske Power Michigan to Second Straight B1G Tournament Title". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  13. "Postgame Notes: Michigan-Purdue". BigTen.org. CBS Interactive. March 4, 2018. Archived from the original on March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  14. "Villanova takes title, 79–62 over Michigan behind DiVincenzo". ESPN. Associated Press. April 3, 2018. Archived from the original on April 3, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  15. Wyrot, Tom (April 2, 2018). "Michigan Comes Up Short Against Villanova in National Championship Game". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 3, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  16. Sayfie, Clayton (October 18, 2019). "Brooks, DeJulius, Nunez Embracing Increased Role, New Style Of Play". Rivals.com . Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  17. "Livers scores 24, Michigan routs Houston Baptist, 111-68". ESPN. Associated Press. November 22, 2019. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  18. Hawkins, James (June 17, 2020). "Nojel Eastern will not transfer to Michigan, citing course credits issue". Detroit News . Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  19. Spath, Michael (April 6, 2020). "David DeJulius' Transfer Decision Raises Three Questions". Sports Illustrated . Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  20. 1 2 3 Kahn, Andrew (March 3, 2022). "Michigan's Adrien Nuñez ready for Senior Night, social media influencer career". MLive.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  21. "ProBlue" (PDF). University of Michigan Basketball. University of Michigan. January 17, 2024. p. 37. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
  22. "Adrien Nunez". LatinBasket. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
  23. Kahn, Andrew (June 30, 2021). "Michigan basketball's Adrien Nuñez ready to earn money as social media star, if NCAA lets him". MLive.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  24. Niesen, Joan (September 2, 2021). "Why women and social media stars are becoming college sports' big winners" . The Guardian . p. B1. ProQuest   2568400404. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  25. 1 2 Schafer, Josh (April 2, 2022). "NIL: Michigan basketball player explains how he built a lucrative TikTok empire". Yahoo! Finance. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  26. "Adrien Nunez (Stats)". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kahn, Andrew (October 17, 2024). "Ex-Michigan basketball player's hit song has more than 5 million streams". MLive.com . Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  28. Asker, Jim (September 6, 2024). "Shaboozey's 'A Bar Song (Tipsy)' Tops Country Airplay for 7th Week, Surpassing Carrie Underwood's Record". Billboard . Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  29. Trapunski, Richard (October 15, 2024). "Shaboozey's 'A Bar Song (Tipsy)' Breaks Record for Most Weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100". Billboard . Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  30. 1 2 Anderson, Liza (January 9, 2025). "Zach Top & Adrien Nunez Among Shazam Fast Forward 2025 Artists". MusicRow . Archived from the original on January 27, 2025. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  31. Owen, Jof (November 14, 2024). "10 New and Upcoming Country and Americana Artists You Need to Know for October 2024". Holler. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  32. Patton, Alli (November 4, 2024). "Minnesota by Adrien Nunez- Lyrics & Meaning". Holler. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  33. Hahnen, Madison (October 9, 2024). "Adrien Nuñez Signs With WME". MusicRow . Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  34. Mower, Maxim (October 29, 2024). "C2C Berlin Adds Adrien Nunez, Bayker Blankenship and More to Lineup". Holler. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  35. Adrien Nunez (October 9, 2024). "@adriennunez status update". Instagram . Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  36. 1 2 Breiler, Chris (October 17, 2024). "Former Michigan Basketball player's singing career starting to take off". Sports Illustrated . Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  37. Eggertsen, Chris (November 26, 2024). "Signed: Royel Otis Heads to Capitol Via Label Partnership, Mass Appeal Enters Pakistan". Billboard . Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  38. Arledge, John Nix (January 17, 2025). "Amazon Music Unveils 2025 Artists To Watch & Originals From Indie Talent". MusicRow . Archived from the original on February 18, 2025. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  39. "New & Developing Q1 2025: Adrien Nuñez (WMN/Warner Records)". Hits . January 26, 2025. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  40. Norris, Rebecca (February 1, 2025). "Luke Bryan Announced Career News, and Some Fans Are 'Not Happy'". Country Living . Archived from the original on May 6, 2025. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  41. Denning, Reagan (February 18, 2025). "Adrien Nunez kicks off the Low Road World Tour and adds US dates". Melodic . Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  42. Adrien Nunez (February 17, 2025). "@adriennunez status update". Instagram . Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  43. Johnson, Jerred (February 17, 2025). "Former Michigan basketball player announces musical world tour". Sports Illustrated . Archived from the original on April 12, 2025. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  44. Cantrell, LB (July 23, 2025). "Sony Music Publishing Nashville Signs Adrien Nunez". MusicRow . Archived from the original on July 27, 2025. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  45. "Sony Music Publishing Nashville Signs Adrien Nunez to Global Deal". Recordoftheday.com (Press release). July 23, 2025. Retrieved August 18, 2025.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  46. "WILD - Single". Apple Music . Retrieved August 18, 2025.