Beckham Black is keenly aware that wearing the top-ranked prospect garb equates to life-changing financial spoils that await him by way of NIL at the collegiate level.
And yet, as hard as he's worked to be considered the No. 1 prospect in the SCNext 100, he's never been in any hurry to reclassify up to cash in.
Not when one of his main goals is predicated on him finishing his senior season.
"I want to be a McDonald's All American," Black said. "That means something to me. My brother [Anthony Black] did it, and I want to do just as much as he did from a high school perspective and more. Being able to compete to earn a spot in that game was definitely a factor in my decision to stay in my class."
In July, when Marcus Spears Jr., the then-No. 1 prospect in the 2027 class, decided to reclassify to 2026 to sign with Texas, there were rumblings that a trend of young stars bucking the tide to get to the money quicker could commence.
But at the Wootten 150 Camp in Las Vegas, elite players were adamant that NIL riches don't trump their lifelong dreams of becoming a McDonald's All American.
Joe Wootten, who founded the camp, serves as chairman of the McDonald's All American Games Selection Committee, and while the camp has no affiliation with the McDonald's All American Game, a plethora of committee members attend to evaluate the talent.
And the nation's top talent are wise with their own decision making.
"I could've reclassified," said Paul Osaruyi, who is ranked No. 25 overall in the SCNext 100. "But the reality is that, if you're a good player the money is always going to be there."
Osaruyi had to come to terms with that truth this past April when his stock skyrocketed after leading CIA Bella Vista (Arizona) to the Chipotle Nationals title.
Ultimately, his reason for staying put was twofold: improvement and dream chasing.
"A lot of guys think they're nice in high school, but don't realize that it's a whole different level and world in college," Osaruyi said. "I wanted to get better, so I'd be ready. Then, being a McDonald's All American has always been my dream, and accomplishing that takes you to another level with NIL too. I feel like if I reclassed, I would've regretted it."
Ryan Hampton saw that firsthand.
In April of his junior year, Hampton's brother, R.J. Hampton was sitting pretty at No. 4 overall in the SCNext 100, a virtual lock for the McDonald's All American Game. Still, RJ was intent on beginning his next step and, to that end, reclassified from 2020 to 2019.
Hampton went on to play professionally in New Zealand before ultimately being selected 24th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2020 NBA draft.
"Being a McDonald's All American is something that my brother still tells me he wishes he would've had," said Ryan, a Kentucky commit who is ranked No. 24 overall in the SCNext 100. "Obviously, he was going to make it, but he chose his own path. It definitely gives me more motivation to be the first one in my family to be a burger boy."
As the No. 2 overall player in the SCNext 100, DeMarcus Henry had ample opportunity to skip his senior season and lock in to a key contributing role for a national title contender this season.
Still, in the end, he felt uneasy about what amounted to "skipping steps" in his mind.
"Being a McDonald's All American has always been a dream of mine, and I'm in a position because of my hard work to have a strong chance to accomplish that," Henry said. "It just doesn't make sense for me. I want to be a burger boy, I want to win Chipotle Nationals, all this stuff is part of the journey. Speeding it up and passing things up, that wouldn't feel right to me."