LSU's Hailey Van Lith leading Adidas Exhibit SELECT campaign, designed for women's basketball
Hailey Van Lith already has an NIL deal with adidas. She signed with the sneaker giant last July. That is not stopping the brand from putting her front and center in its latest campaign.
The LSU guard is one of the leading athletes of adidas’ Exhibit SELECT sneaker, which is engineered to the specifications of women’s feet and the demands of women’s basketball.
The former Louisville star made the decision to enter the transfer portal this spring. Adidas worked closely with her, signing Van Lith as one of the brand’s leading faces in college athletics. She took the Cardinals to the Final Four and Elite Eight in back-to-back seasons.
The relationship between adidas and the 5-foot-7 point guard has not changed, despite the move to a Nike school. Van Lith will wear the swoosh in all team activities but will still promote adidas through social media campaigns and initiatives, her Octagon Sports agent Alyssa Romano confirmed to On3 in May.
Wednesday was the start of the Exhibit SELECT campaign. The only college basketball player involved in the marketing initiative, Van Lith will star in promotions next to Candace Parker, Kahleah Copper, Erica Wheeler, Aliyah Boston, Nneka Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike. The sneakers go on sale to the public Aug. 1.
“I’m excited to wear a product that really provides the support and confidence boost I need to dominate on the court.”
While sneaker deals are an attractive deal for athletes to sign, they are complicated at the college level. Van Lith has two years of eligibility remaining. If she starts promoting her own shoe right now with, she won’t be able to wear it on the court. Plus, the deal will be forced to expire when she makes the jump to the WNBA.
Move to LSU could be NIL windfall for Hailey Van Lith
In three seasons at Louisville, Van Lith averaged 15.4 points and 4.4 assists. She joins an LSU team stacked with talent. For as well-known Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson have become off the court, they’re good basketball players. Reese averaged a double-double this past year, while Johnson was named SEC Freshman of the Year.
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The Tigers also added DePaul transfer Aneesah Morrow, who was a third-team All-American, averaging 25.7 points and 12.2 rebounds.
The move to Baton Rouge could come with some NIL benefits, too. Being in the same building with Reese and Johnson will expose her to a new crowd by landing on their social media pages. The same goes for what Van Lith can do for Reese and Johnson: She has more than 903,000 followers and rising.
“If I were in a student-athlete’s place, and I had some brand opportunities, I’d want to go to an institution that did everything they could to help me maximize that [brand],” LSU athletics’ chief brand officer Cody Worsham told On3 this spring.
One of the reasons adidas wanted to stick with Van Lith, despite the move to a Nike school, is because of the loyal brand she has built away from the basketball court. The point guard helped Team USA win gold at the FIBA 3×3 World Cup earlier this month. She has signed endorsement deals with Dick’s Sporting Goods, Valentino, Overtime and Billionaire Girls Club, too.
Hailey Van Lith has a $497,000 On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks No. 5 in women’s college basketball.
The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories: performance, influence and exposure.