Most Impactful Person in Year 2 of NIL: LSU star Angel Reese

Nearly three months ago, the country was introduced to Angel Reese. In the closing moments of LSU’s first women’s basketball national championship, she threw a “you can’t see me” hand gesture toward Iowa guard Caitlin Clark before pointing out her ring finger.

The celebration turned into a divisive conversation across social media. For many, it was their first interaction with Bayou Barbie. Some called the actions classless, taking it as far as calling her a “a f— idiot.” Many came to her defense, saying Reese was allowed to show her emotional fire.

That Final Four weekend and national title moment did not make Reese. She had already built a successful NIL brand, signing a handful of notable partnerships leading up to March Madness. The 6-foot-3 small forward gifted her entire team Coach bags. A former Maryland transfer, she averaged a double-double in her first season in Baton Rouge while earning first-team All-American honors.

Reese did all of it before she was ever mentioned in the same breath as Caitlin Clark or First Lady Jill Biden. Before she won the national championship. How she used the moment in April catapulted her from basketball star to celebrity, which has differentiated her.

In the first two years of NIL, female athletes have become some of the biggest winners. Names like Livvy Dunne, the Cavinder Twins and Sedona Prince have defined what name, image and likeness was initially meant to be – true marketing.

Reese has entered the same class in the last three months. She added 3.6 million social media followers. She signed with brands like PlayStation and Raising Cane’s. Reese became one of the first college athletes to ever appear in SI Swimsuit. She helped make NIL a mainstream topic.

All of those reasons are why she’s been named On3’s Most Impactful Person during Year 2 of NIL. She was selected by the On3 staff. With the third anniversary of NIL in college sports on July 1, On3 looks back this week at the newsmakers that shaped the second year of the NIL Era along with looking ahead and the storylines that’ll impact its third year.

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“All year, I was critiqued about who I was,” Reese said in the national championship postgame press conference. “I don’t fit in a box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year. When other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing. This was for the people that look like me.” 

How Angel Reese has differentiated her NIL brand

Reese knew what she wanted out of NIL well before she was used as material in a Saturday Night Live sketch. The modeling, fashion and lifestyle categories have always been centric to what the LSU small forward has looked for in endorsement deals. Even though more and more brands have tried to get in front of her, those three continue to drive her platform. She has been working with Jeanine Ogbonnaya since her days at Maryland; they have always been targeting deals in those sectors.

She became an ambassador for the multicultural hair care brand Mielle Organics last month. When she went to the White House with her LSU team in May, she didn’t just wear a black dress. No, Reese sported a look curated just for her by the FashionNova brand. Starring in this year’s SI Swimsuit edition gave her one of the most sought-after modeling gigs in the industry.

Her spin has been put on all of it, though. Companies have turned social media into a crucial metric when determining who to enter into NIL deals with. Reese is constantly posting her day-to-day life across social media, and all of it comes across as organic. Rarely does an advertisement not fit her typical content tone.

“She’s not just a student-athlete anymore or a marketable women’s basketball player where we’re doing these one-off deals,” Ogbonnaya told On3 this spring. “I think at this point, she’s got the following to back it up where she can be doing long-term partnerships that truly align with her brand and her messaging, and finding those brands that align with that as well.”

The LSU sensation has publicly jockeyed for deals before. Reese has openly talked about landing a deal with the Mattel toy company, which owns the trademark for “Barbie.” The goal behind her decision to file to trademark for “Bayou Barbie” was to set up a website and sell merchandise. IP attorney Darren Heitner filed the application in early February and expects to hear back next year.

Sneaker deals have become a complicated but attractive piece of NIL. LSU is a Nike school, meaning Reese could sign with any major sportswear company. But she would only be able to rock the swoosh while in uniform. If she were to sign with Nike, however, the Tigers could consider making a special allowance. Ogbonnaya has previously alluded to Reese having a shoe partnership high on her NIL bucket list.

Just the beginning for Angel Reese’s career at LSU

All of this could really be a starting point. Since the Final Four, Angel Reese’s On3 NIL Valuation has grown by $1.2 million. She has become a leading figure in her sport, recently appearing in a commercial for Starry with NBA stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Zion Williamson.

The Randallstown, Maryland, native just wrapped up her sophomore season at LSU. 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.

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. If proof is needed, she recently partially purchased her own Mercedes-Benz EQS580. The retail price is more than $120,000. When decision time comes around, she will be forced to consider how valuable being aligned with the LSU brand really is.

On the court, there’s not much debate Reese and LSU are only getting started. Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey added Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow from the portal this offseason. One of Reese’s best friends and fellow NIL star, SEC Freshman of the Year Flau’jae Johnson will also be returning.

The rest of college basketball will be looking to knock off LSU, but the Tigers appear ready to fend off any challengers. Reese averaged a double-double in her first season playing in the SEC. She’s playing for Team USA next month in the AmeriCup Team.

Clark is back for another season, plus UConn guard Paige Bueckers will be back in the mix. The game is growing. On-court success will only grow Reese’s NIL brand. More eyeballs will be on the sport this year, in part because of Angel Reese.

“There’s been a lot of talk about, ‘Hey, athletes in women’s basketball that are doing really well are going to stay. Because shoot, they can make just as much or more in college than the WNBA and keep growing the brand because viewership is even higher,’” INFLCR founder and CEO Jim Cavale said. “We’ve seen people make that decision. But the other thing is they can make super teams because of the portal. Just like we saw super teams, going back to LeBron, D-Wade and Bosh, or going back before that with Malone, Payton, Kobe and Shaq.

“You could totally do that now in college, and to me, this is potentially one of the first big ones we’ve seen in women’s basketball.”