The current UConn star joins up with two program legends.
Although she still has one year left at UConn, Paige Bueckers is already preparing for her professional career. On Thursday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Huskies’ star signed an NIL deal with Unrivaled, a basketball league started by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. As part of Bueckers’ deal, she’ll receive an ownership stake in the venture and is expected to play in the league once she turns pro.
Stewart and Collier unveiled Unrivaled back in 2023 with the goal of giving WNBA players an alternative to going overseas during the offseason. The average salary will be $250,000 — more than the current WNBA max salary — and players will receive an ownership stake as well.
The inaugural campaign is set to begin this upcoming January in Miami with the likes of Stewart, Collier, Kelsey Plum, Jewell Loyd, Arike Ogunbowale and Angel Reese among the 10 players already revealed. The league will ultimately include 30 players.
Instead of traditional 5×5 basketball, Unrivaled will be a full-court version of 3×3 with six teams in total. It’ll also feature a single-elimination 1v1 tournament.
Geno Auriemma is among the league’s investors alongside Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony and Ashton Kutcher among many others, including a few media moguls.
“When I first heard about it, my first reaction was: If Stewie and Pheesa think this is a great idea, and they’re willing to commit themselves, then I’m in,” Auriemma said. “Basically, it’s an investment in Pheesa and Stewie. I believe in them, and I believe that everything they do turns out good. So I wanted to be a part of it.”
Bueckers is planning on the 2024-25 season being her last at UConn. If she declares for the 2025 WNBA Draft, she’ll be the frontrunner to go No. 1 overall.
This isn’t the only notable NIL news for Bueckers this week. On Monday, it came out that she’ll be the first college athlete to receive her own custom Nike sneaker.