Friends of UNILV signs entire UNLV women's basketball team to NIL deals

Friends of UNILV, a Rebels-focused collective, announced NIL deals for every member of UNLV‘s women’s basketball team. The players will receive monthly compensation as part of the NIL deals.

Friends of UNILV is supported by Blueprint Sports, a Las Vegas-based company that’s a full-service provider for collectives.

Blueprint Sports Vice President of Marketing and Communications Allison Monette declined to disclose the value of the monthly deals or whether the compensation varies by player. However, Monette said NIL deals for female athletes from collectives powered by Blueprint Sports are worth an average of $1,400 per deal.

For context, Level 13 Agency announced in July 2022 that the agency committed $25,000 for every Texas Tech women’s basketball player.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have a group of women in our basketball program who will do what it takes to win,” UNLV women’s basketball coach Lindy La Rocque said in a statement. “We know it takes a lot of people working together to make NIL happen and we are grateful for the support of our alumni, to ensure our players are successful on and off the court.”

Blueprint Sports’ website lists 19 collectives nationally, including collectives that support athletes at Florida State, Gonzaga, NC State, Penn State, Tennessee and Villanova.

UNLV players to host youth camp

Friends of UNILV also announced its partnership with all of the members of UNLV’s women’s basketball team will start with a youth basketball camp. The camp is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon on July 18 at Centennial Hills YMCA in Las Vegas.

Last season, UNLV finished with a 31-3 record, including perfect records in Mountain West Conference regular season play (18-0) and at home (17-0). The Rebels swept the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships by defeating Wyoming in the conference tournament championship game.

UNLV earned a No. 11 seed in the NCAA tournament, where it fell to No. 6 seed Michigan 71-59 in the first round in Baton Rouge.

UNLV has made the NCAA tournament in each of the last two seasons after ending a 19-year drought. Last season the Rebels set program records for wins and winning percentage, according to Sports Reference. Only national champion LSU and South Carolina won a higher clip of their games nationally than the Rebels, who won 91.2% of their games.

La Rocque earned Mountain West Coach of the Year honors for the second time in her first three seasons with the program. The teamwide NIL deals will benefit a Rebels roster that produced several players who won Mountain West awards last season.

Junior center Desi-Rae Young made the all-conference team, along with departed senior guards Essence Booker and Justice Ethridge, and Young was also named the Mountain West Championship Most Valuable Player.

Young averaged 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game while shooting 59.2% from the field.

Sophomore point guard Kiara Jackson was named Sixth Player of the Year. Jackson averaged 7.8 points and 2.3 assists per game, while starting five games and appearing off the bench in 29.

This story has been updated to reflect the average compensation for NIL deals for female athletes through collectives powered by Blueprint Sports.