Paige Bueckers reflects on NIL journey, building brand from 'blank canvas'

Before the NIL era officially started, “Paige Buckets” took college basketball by storm. Paige Bueckers put together a standout freshman season at UConn as she won National Player of the Year and became a unanimous first team All-American.

July 1, 2021 – ahead of Bueckers’ sophomore year – the NIL era began. That meant players were able to profit off their name, image and likeness for the first time. It proved to be quite an opportunity for Bueckers, whose highlights were making their way around social media quickly.

But she was like athletes across the country and had to quickly learn what it meant to navigate the space. In fact, despite her strong following, Bueckers said she build her brand from scratch.

“When I tell you I had no idea what this was going to look like, I had literally no idea,” Bueckers told Deja Kelly on NILOSOPHY. “It was a complete blank canvas. That’s why you just want to set the values up first. Whatever came from that, then, let’s do it. In commercials, partnered with Fortnite. The stuff I was able to do – like shoots, the creative side of it, the relationships I got to build, some really cool moments. … The stuff I’ve been able to do with my teammates and for my teammates, that’s been the coolest stuff to me, just to share that with them.

“Having a stylist, hair and makeup done. I’m just sitting there in a chair and everybody’s, like, tending to me. I’m like, this is nuts. I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life. All of it’s just been a whirlwind. I’m just extremely grateful for all of it.”

Paige Bueckers: ‘I set my values straight with my team’

On the court, Paige Bueckers overcame injury and eventually got her long-awaited national championship this past season at UConn. All told, she ended her career as a three-time first team All-American and a two-time Nancy Lieberman Award winner as the nation’s top point guard. That helped her become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.

Bueckers also flourished in the NIL space. She ended her college career with a $1.5 million On3 NIL Valuation, which ranked No. 2 in the women’s basketball NIL rankings. She also made it a point to enter into deals that included her teammates, which was one of her big values as she entered the space. It was part of a special journey through the NIL world, and she came a long way from the day the new era began.

“Truly, I had no idea, especially the first day,” Bueckers said. “I knew name, image and likeness. That’s probably the only thing I knew. But even just talking with agents. What was an agent to me? Now, I know, and now I have much more knowledge around the topic. Once I started to learn about it – talk to more people, get their perspective on things, talk with an agent – it became, for me, how can I give back and use this platform on social media to do something good with it? You don’t even think about making money in college because it was never a thing.

“I set my values straight with my team. I just want to work with people who have the right intentions, have the right values of giving back and not making everything about me. Like, including my teammates on deals, trying to give my teammates stuff, as well. Just as much as you can, it’s going to be about you. You’re building your brand, you’re building your wealth, you’re building just who you are and getting that out there more. So as much as you can, trying to counteract that with the things that you can do within a partnership.”