LSU's Angel Reese signs NIL advocacy deal with Goldman Sachs

Nearly a year ago, Angel Reese delivered LSU its first national championship in women’s basketball.

The first-team All-American had already built an NIL brand off the court. But winning the NCAA Tournament and edging out Caitlin Clark vaulted the “Bayou Barbie” to new heights. The former Maryland transfer added more than 1.3 million social media followers in a week and inked prominent endorsement deals with Raising Cane’s and Caktus AI.

Now days away from the start of her quest to defend her national title, Reese signed one of her most impactful NIL deals to date. Through a new partnership with Goldman Sachs, the SEC Player of the Year is promoting the One Million Black Women campaign to amplify the voices of Black women to policymakers in Washington, D.C.

Reese is starring in a national TV commercial next to her mother, former college basketball player Angel Webb Reese. The ad opens with the LSU star highlighting traits she inherited from her mother and closes with a direct message to Congress.

“I owe so much to my mom,” Reese said. “She instilled in me my confidence, work ethic and my commitment to my community. It’s clear that from her generation to today, Black women are still facing challenges. But I believe change is possible. I’m proud to be teaming up with Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women to make sure the voices of Black women in my community and across the country are heard.”

Angel Reese joins Dawn Staley, Dr. Bernice A. King as ambassadors

For all the work she has done capitalizing on her name, image and likeness, this is Angel Reese’s first advocacy-driven partnership. Goldman plans to run the ad on ESPN during the Elite Eight and Final Four. Reese and her mother join South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and Dr. Bernice A. King as partners of One Million Black Women.

The campaign centers around efforts to use data to highlight the roadblocks that impact the economic futures of Black women and their families. According to a report done by One Million Black Women in 2021, policies that close the earnings gap for Black women would raise the overall level of U.S. annual GDP growth by $300 to $450 billion per year.

“Angel is, as we all know, one of college basketball’s brightest stars,” Jessica Taylor, national director of One Million Black Women at Goldman Sachs, told On3. “She has exceptional skills, she is unapologetically authentic and she uses her platform to advocate for gender equality. What we’ve done and seek to do as One Million Black Women is amplify the voices of Black women so policymakers are inspired to enact real solutions. We’re proud to invite leading voices, like Angel Reese, to help advance the conversation on narrowing the racial wealth gap for Black women.

“One Million Black Women is a commitment of $10 billion in investment capital and $100 million in philanthropic support to drive economic stability for one million Black women by 2030. So the work we’re doing, in partnership with Angel, as part of One Million Black Women, is designed to better understand the economic realities of Black women in America.”

Angel Reese poised for another March Madness run

The LSU star is averaging a double-double with 19 points and 13.1 rebounds entering the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers did not secure a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance, ranked as the No. 3 seed in the Albany 2 Region.

If Reese and her team make it to the Elite Eight, there’s a strong chance they could meet No. 1 seed Iowa, which would be a rematch of last year’s national championship game. LSU went on a run in the SEC Tournament, ultimately losing in the finals to South Carolina. The benches cleared late in the fourth quarter when Kamilla Cardoso pushed Flau’jae Johnson.

Working with her agent Jeanine Ogbonnay, Reese has become one of college sports’ most well-known NIL stars. She’s signed on as an ambassador for the multicultural hair care brand Mielle Organics. When she went to the White House with her LSU team last May, she didn’t just wear a black dress, instead, she sported a look curated by the FashionNova brand.

The forward announced a multi-year partnership with Reebok back in October, too. As part of her agreement with Reebok, she has a curated portal of products on Reebok.com, named “Angel’s Picks.”

Reese’s On3 NIL Valuation has grown to $1.8 million, the No. 2 women’s basketball NIL valuation. Reese ranks No. 8 in the On3 NIL 100, the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.