It is a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) world in college athletics, a time when compensating athletes is the norm and often rightfully celebrated. What the football and basketball players who receive the bulk of the funds actually do with the money is much less discussed. ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla hilariously noted how one player bought a Rolex while in Las Vegas for the $1 million-plus-per-team Players Era Festival. But University of Houston senior forward Ramon Walker Jr. is taking a different approach.

Walker is using his NIL money to invest in real estate, making the first steps towards becoming a developer while he’s still playing basketball at UH.

“My dad always told me, he says, when you have money, you have to let your money make you more money,” Walker tells PaperCity. “Just my dad being a mentor to me on that side of things has really helped me. The NIL landscape is crazy now. It’s a huge influx of money. So I’m just trying to do the right things with it.

“To set myself up for later in life, that’s something I’ve been concentrating on.”

Ramon Walker plays with a lunch-bucket ethos, energizing his talented teammates with his intensity, his hustle, his will. It probably should be no surprise that he spurns the materialistic trappings of buying things with his NIL money for something more substantial.

“I don’t wear jewelry,” Walker says. “And my car is a 2015. I’m good on that.”

Instead Ramon Walker talks to Houston assistant coach Kellen Sampson about real estate, asking his coach his opinion on what makes for a good deal. what he should look to add to his portfolio. Needless to say, this is not the usual coach-player talk in college basketball in 2025.

“One of the best parts about NIL is these guys are able to explore some real interests, some real hobbies, some opportunities for them to explore who they are outside of being just a basketball player,” Kellen Sampson tells PaperCity. “Quite a few guys have found some things they’d like to explore. Whether it’s with investments. Whether it’s with unique career opportunities.

“This is the first real estate. And I know this as much as that kid has worn this uniform with the pride and honor of a true Houstonian, I know the city of Houston is going to do right by Ramon here in his next chapter.”

Walker hopes that next chapter involves helping shape the city he loves, the area where he grew up. Ramon Walker, real estate tycoon to be? It’s best not to doubt that. Especially with the head start his NIL money is giving him.

“That’s awesome,” Kellen Sampson says. “That’s what you go to college for. To figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. To make meaningful connections and relationships that can help you. The fact that he wants go ahead and tap into those. . .

“A big part of him coming back was, I said, ‘Look, if you’re going to come back here, you need to give me three things that you want to do post basketball.’ And let’s get to work on them.”

“The NIL landscape is crazy now. It’s a huge influx of money. So I’m just trying to do the right things with it.” — UH forward Ramon Walker Jr.

Ramon Walker, The Energizer Tycoon?

Real estate is one of those things, becoming a developer in a city that often rewards bold thinkers. Another could be coaching. “Coaching is definitely something I could get into,” Walker says. “You know we have our little team camps and kids camps and all the coaches have been telling me I’m going to be a really good coach.

“It’s just, I love basketball and I feel like I’ll be around basketball for a long time.”

Which does not mean Ramon Walker will necessarily spend his life playing it. He is making the most of his fifth-year medical hardship waiver season for the Cougars, having decided to return once again to Houston when he could have transferred to some smaller conference programs that offered him a larger role. Walker will tell you the choice to stay with a coaching staff and teammates he views as “family” was a simple one. No real debate needed.

Kellen Sampson will tell you differently, talking about how much it means to him that Walker decided to stay, noting how many chances this spark plug of a player has had to leave. Most that even the most devoted UH basketball fans never heard about.

“He hasn’t chosen Houston once,” Sampson says. “He chose Houston five times. And I think a big part of choosing Houston for the fifth time (this offseason) was I want to come back and do it with my brothers. I want to do it in my city. And just has such an awesome love affair with our program.

“But I also think he has an awesome love affair with his city. He’s the Guy V. Lewis Award winner (as a high school senior). He’s a proven commodity from high school to college and he knows this where he wants to spend his days.”

Walker is spending his current days providing a jolt when needed for a talent-packed No. 8 ranked Houston team (7-1). Kelvin Sampson does not play the 6-foot-5 forward every game, but Walker’s presence creates a sense of security. When he’s needed, Walker can help swing a game. With UH and its talented freshmen dragging in their third game in three days in Las Vegas, Sampson played Walker a season-high 24 minutes and got rewarded with a nine-point, four-rebound, two-assist, one-block effort that put a pesky Notre Dame team away.

In an emergency, break glass. And let The Energizer get everyone going.

“Ramon’s a tough guy,” Kelvin Sampson says. “. . . The fact that he stayed and has been with the program. . . Ramon’s been through a lot. He’s had a ton of injuries, but he’s still standing.”

Still making an impact four full seasons after he helped that injury-racked 2021-22 UH team make that miracle Elite Eight run, which ended a bucket short of being a Final Four run. Now plotting out a future in real estate with his NIL money.

“I’ve been talking to Coach Kellen on all of it,” Walker tells PaperCity. “He’s referred me to a lot of people that are helping me get started with that. I’ve really been getting into commercial (real estate) because I just feel like there’s a lot of revenue that comes with that. Since COVID happened, people are used to working from home.

“Now people want to get back into office spaces and get back into the daily vibes of going to work. I feel like that’s an area that’s really going to be booming. So that’s something I’ve been really looking at. It’s a great city for it.”

Ramon Walker could be one of the real estate leaders shaping Houston’s future someday. He’s certainly giving himself a head start.

No outlet covers UH basketball throughout the entire calendar year with more consistency and focus than PaperCity Houston. For more of Chris Baldwin’s extensive, detailed and unique insider coverage of UH sports — stories you cannot read anywhere else, stay tuned. Follow Baldwin on the platform formerly known as Twitter here.