CLEMSON — Clemson guard Brevin Galloway was only 30 minutes removed from an anesthesia-induced sleep, electrode pads still pinned to his tattooed chest, when he asked his fiancé to record a video message.
Galloway didn’t want anyone warping reality, however crude it was. A case of testicular torsion — a twisting of the spermatic cords that bring blood to the scrotum — had put him in a hospital bed following a weight-lifting session. In a seven-year basketball career littered with leg injuries, he didn't want to miss time and have media speculating about his knees.
Plus, the Tigers were days away from a Jan. 31 road trip to Boston College, and the grad transfer Galloway didn’t want anyone thinking he'd chickened out of a matchup against one of his former teams.
“I was like, nah, I have to let the world know what the story actually is, instead of the media coming up with their own stuff,” Galloway said.
Galloway took control of the narrative in a style uniquely his. By baring all.
In the video, the 25-year-old kept a straight face as he told his social media followers that his nether regions had “exploded.” As his fiancé giggled, Galloway took a sip of her drink, beginning to smile as he reported his private parts were no longer swollen like "basketballs."
The effects of the anesthesia were evident as Galloway slurred some words — including a childlike “Go Tie-guhs” at the end — but there was no regret to be had when his video went viral on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
A week later, Galloway has a name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal with the underwear brand Shinesty, which promises to supply him with a tighter-fitting product to help prevent such injuries. The day after his surgery, Galloway was selling T-shirts capitalizing off of his bizarre moment of celebrity, one with a “Nutty Professor” theme to play off a favorite movie.
“Brevin Galloway is the reason I’m in the agent business,” said Michael Raymond, Galloway’s representative on NIL deals. “He’s always genuine, he’s always himself. He basically treated this situation the only way Brevin Galloway can treat this situation and how nobody else would.”
This was Galloway turning a negative into a positive, which is something he’s uniquely driven to do. That's his colorful personality, which translates into deep 3-point shots on the court and goofy social media posts off it.
At the same time, Galloway has become practiced in finding silver linings. As a redshirt freshman at the College of Charleston, he played in only seven games because of a hamstring injury. A knee injury reduced his redshirt junior season to four games, just as he emerged as a top scorer.
After his career ended in Charleston, Galloway ballooned from 205 to 265 pounds. He suffered from anxiety and depression, including suicidal thoughts. When he transferred to Boston College, Galloway not only linked up with his former head coach at CofC, Earl Grant, but he also found a therapist who allowed him to vent and shift his mindset.
It was still a tough year, though. Galloway played through yet another knee injury that required midseason surgery. He wasn't happy with his living situation in Boston, making no money. It took the support of his then-girlfriend, now fiancé, to find a better mindset.
“We were just like ‘How can we make this situation a positive? In what way can we be happy?’” Galloway said. “In what way can we make this bad good?”
Galloway arrived to Clemson with a clearer mind and a healthier body. He obviously didn’t want to suffer a bizarre setback during his grand-finale season, especially in the middle of a program-best start to ACC play. But when it happened, Galloway handled it as he thought best.
He made light of it, even if a video from a hospital bed was bound not to be Clemson coach Brad Brownell’s favorite social media post. On the other hand, Brownell has known Galloway, an Anderson native, for a long time. Grant was also one of Brownell's longtime assistants at Clemson.
“He knew that I was big on social media, he knew that I was a clown. He expected this,” Galloway said of his viral post. “It was a lot on the coaching staff at first, because it’s in the middle of the season, and this is kind of, like, not unnecessary (nonsense), but it is, kind of, in their eyes. We’re trying to win an ACC championship.
“At the same time, I gotta look out for myself, and I knew I could capitalize off of this.”
He got on the phone with Raymond, and they made the most of an NIL opportunity.
The "Nutty Professor" and "Ballsy"-themed shirts seem to have done well, because Galloway has received direct messages from fans who purchased them. He expects to be signing more than a few when he returns to the court for Clemson's Feb. 4 home matchup with Miami (Fla.).
Along with some underwear and cash from Shinesty, Galloway will soon be featured in a commercial for the self-proclaimed “irreverent” clothing brand.
Without spoiling the plot, the ad will feature Galloway in a doctor’s office.
“That’s probably going to go more viral than the announcement of the deal, and we got some other things cooking,” Raymond said. “This is not over yet.”
One deal Galloway is still hoping for: A customized protective cup. He needs to wear one during games following his surgery. Unfortunately, those companies don’t tend to have a huge marketing budget.
But the cup-wearing Galloway has certainly provided his teammates with plenty of joke capital in the locker room. Even one of Galloway’s recent Uber drivers knew who he was, asking how he was "doing down there.”
Galloway has also woken up to dozens of messages from strangers on social media, sharing their own stories of having testicular torsion. He realized he wasn't the only person to go through something as random as this.
That interaction has been one of the biggest benefits of sharing something about himself that's real, that was relatable. He enjoys doing that.
“A lot of people put us athletes, Division I athletes, on this crazy pedestal and they think we’re just invincible. Bro, we’re not invincible at all," Galloway said. "We have feelings, and we’re normal just like y’all. That’s what I have to let the world know. Even though I’m an athlete and I have a little bit of fame on social media, and obviously this stuff went viral, I’m still a regular person at the end of the day, and I feel like that’s what I was able to tell people."
This has been an interesting week, for sure. But now that he's back on the court, he is just focused on basketball. Galloway shared that message with Brownell when the Tigers returned from a trip to Florida State last weekend.
Player and coach are on good terms about it all.
“I let him know I was locked in, ready to get back to what is important, and that’s winning an ACC championship,” Galloway said. “We’ve joked around about it. He’s a good guy, man."
