LSU's Angel Reese inks multi-year NIL contract with Reebok

Angel Reese has been exploring NIL deals with sneaker giants since last April.

Now she has officially signed her first contract with one. The LSU basketball star announced a new, multi-year partnership with Reebok on Tuesday. The move comes after the brand brought on Shaquille O’Neal as president of Reebok basketball last week, with plans to re-launch in the category in 2024.

Reese will clearly be a leading factor in that.

“For my first appointment in this role, it had to be the GOAT,” O’Neal said in a statement. “There is no one making a bigger impact on the game right now than Angel Reese.”

A first-team All-American this past season, she finished the year averaging a double-double with 23 points and 15.4 rebounds. Reese has become a celebrity since April, seeing her social media following soar to more than 5.2 million.

As part of her agreement with Reebok, Angel Reese will have a curated portal of products on Reebok.com, which has been named “Angel’s Picks.” To kick off the partnership, a limited-edition T-shirt celebrating the signing has been released.

On top of her own dedicated portion of the online store, Reese and Reebok will partner to launch her own capsule collection in fall/winter 2024. She will also provide input and feedback on design and product ahead of Reebok’s basketball re-launch.

“I am honored to be working closely with one of my longtime mentors, Shaq, along with a brand that I have admired since I was just a little kid,” Reese said in a statement. “It means the world to me that they trust in me to extend their legacy to a new generation.”

The moment marks a major step in her NIL career. The 6-foot-3 forward has signed with brands like PlayStation and Raising Cane’s. Reese became one of the first college athletes to ever appear in SI Swimsuit. And she helped make NIL a mainstream topic.

Through the Reebok and Reese partnership, the two plan to team up to benefit the Angel C. Reese Foundation, which launched in July and focuses on empowering women through sports, education and financial literacy.

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Angel Reese’s On3 NIL Valuation

Represented by Jeanine Ogbonnaya, Reese averaged a double-double last season. She earned a silver medal on the AmeriCup Team earlier this month and was at the White House in May to celebrate LSU’s national championship. Reese made a cameo in a Latto and Cardi B music video, too.

Nicknamed the “Bayou Barbie” for her on-court demeanor and eyelash extensions and long pink nails, Reese has embraced college athletics’ NIL era. She filed to trademark the nickname and has been openly campaigning for a partnership with the Mattel toy company.

With two years of eligibility remaining, the 21-year-old could decide to go to the WNBA after the 2023 season. That will not be an automatic decision, especially with this Reebok agreement. Reese has a significantly larger social media following than the average WNBA player. The average contract in 2022 in the league was $102,751, just a share of what the college basketball star is making now because of NIL. 

Her On3 NIL Valuation now is $1.7 million, which is the top-ranked women’s basketball NIL valuation. Reese ranks No. 7 in the On3 NIL 100, which is the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.