UConn's Paige Bueckers signs NIL sneaker deal with Nike

Nike has signed UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers to an NIL deal, making her the first college athlete to market a shoe for the brand.

While the sportswear giant has worked with a number of high school and college basketball stars, Bueckers becomes the first to lead a sneaker campaign for Nike. As part of the agreement, the 2020-21 national player of the year will be the leading face of Nike’s new GT Hustle sneaker this season across brand campaigns.

Because she plays for a Nike school, Bueckers will be able to easily wear the GT Hustle in practices and games. The Greater Than Hustle 2 is set to release later this Fall in three colorways.

“Joining the Nike family is a childhood dream come true,” Bueckers said in a statement. “I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together on and off the court.”

It’s a smart signing by the brand, too, scooping up the redshirt junior. With a professional career in her future, Nike can begin building a relationship with the guard. Sabrina Ionescu launched her own sneaker earlier this month. Bueckers could one day become another women’s basketball star to have her own shoe.

The move from the swoosh is just the latest in a growingly competitive world of shoe brands operating in the NIL space. Despite transferring from Louisville to LSU this offseason, Hailey Van Lith is sticking with adidas and is one of the leading athletes of the brand’s Exhibit SELECT sneaker. The shoe is engineered to the specifications of women’s feet and the demands of women’s basketball.

Bueckers joins a talented list of athletes to sign with Nike in the NIL Era, joining Caitlin Clark and Judea Watkins. Bronny James and DJ Wagner signed with the company in October, too.

A former top recruit, she missed the 2022-23 season with an ACL injury. The 2021-22 season wasn’t much easier, as Bueckers missed 19 games from November to February, dealing with an anterior tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear in her left knee. After a December surgery, she recovered and returned to lead UConn to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and its first national championship game berth since 2016.

Even though she was eligible to head for the WNBA this spring, she returned to the Huskies for this upcoming year. In 46 career games at UConn, the 6-foot guard is averaging 18 points and 4.5 rebounds. She’ll be playing next to one of her best friends, Azzi Fudd, this year, too.

Paige Bueckers’ growing NIL brand

Bueckers is also closing in on 1.7 million followers across her Instagram, Twitter and TikTok accounts. Finding NIL opportunities has not been a problem for Paige Bueckers, who has emerged as one of the trendsetters in the last two years and change.

She has worked with a number of brands, launching her own Gatorade bottle and entering a long-term relationship with Bose. Bueckers is also a brand ambassador for StockX, an online marketplace and clothing reseller.

She has a $637,000 On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks No. 4 in women’s college basketball. Bueckers sits at No. 62 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.

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.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value