Angel Reese has stated that playing in the NCAA is more lucrative than playing in the WNBA, and that she is not in a hurry to join the league, despite the fact that she will not be eligible for drafting until next year.
“I’m in no rush to go to the league,” the 20-year-old second-year student at Louisiana State University said on the I Am Athlete podcast. “The money I’m making is more than some of the people that are in the league that might be top players.”
Off the court, the LSU Tigers star is capitalizing on her celebrity. She sells merchandise on her official website in addition to signing lucrative deals with powerful brands.
According to Sponsors United, no player, male or female, has signed more deals in the history of the NCAA tournament than Reese. According to the New York Post, the college basketball player has signed 17 NIL contracts totaling $392,000 per year with brands such as Calvin Klein, Bose, JanSport, McDonald’s, Xfinity, and Coach.
Meanwhile, according to CNBC, the contracts pay her an estimated $1.3 million per year, citing sports media platform On3.
The growth of her social media handles has contributed to the success of the Maryland native. She has over one million Instagram and TikTok followers, transitioning from LSU sensation to social media influencer.
Many more brands have called her manager, Jeanine Ogbonnaya, since her last match, in which she finished with a double-double and mimicked Iowa star Caitlin Clark’s “you can’t see me” celebration in the game’s final seconds before pointing out her ring finger.
“She’s not just a student-athlete anymore or a marketable women’s basketball player where we’re doing these one-off deals,” Ogbonnaya said. “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.
“I think this whole weekend, really, everyone took notice of her lashes and her lip gloss, how beautiful she is. The modeling, the fashion, and the lifestyle space is definitely something that we’re really pushing toward.”