The female athletes with highest On3 NIL Valuation by sport

The latest update of the On3 NIL 100 – the first-of-its-kind, defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes based on their On3 NIL Valuation – brought significant changes. There are numerous female athletes now in the On3 NIL 100, including LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, who cracked the top five with an On3 NIL Valuation of $2.3 million.

That puts her just ahead of the USC football duo of quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Jordan Addison.

The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. The On3 NIL Valuation is a proprietary algorithm that calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories including an athlete’s performance, exposure and influence.

While the algorithm does include data from NIL deals, the On3 NIL Valuation doesn’t act as a tracker of the value of the NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It projects the market value for an athlete for up to 12 months in the future.

Here are the female athletes with the highest On3 NIL Valuation by sport, among athletes in the On3 database.

Basketball

Athlete: Paige Bueckers
School: UConn
Year: Junior
On3 NIL Valuation: $816,000

Bueckers made her debut at No. 35 in the On3 NIL 100. She is just one example of the high-profile female athletes who have benefited from their athletic success and marketability in the NIL era. She has signed NIL deals with the likes of Bose, Crocs and Gatorade.

As a freshman at UConn, she took home numerous national player of the year awards as she became the first freshman to earn the Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award, and AP Player of the Year and USBWA Player of the Year honors.

As a sophomore, she missed 19 games due to a knee injury but she returned to help UConn reach the national championship game. In the Elite Eight, she scored 15 points in the two overtime periods against NC State as she finished with 27 total.

Unfortunately for Bueckers and UConn, she suffered a torn ACL in August and she is expected to miss the 2022-23 season. When healthy, she’s arguably the best player in the sport, competing for the sport’s most dominant program.

Golf

Athlete: Rachel Heck
School: Stanford
Year: Junior
On3 NIL Valuation: $8,800

Last season, Heck helped Stanford win the NCAA team championship, one season after she won the individual championship. She has signed a NIL deal with Nike Golf, Ping, Stifel Financial, Six Star Pro Nutrition and Whistle Sports.

The deal with Nike carries significant weight in the NIL space. Heck became one of the first college athletes to sign with the footwear and apparel brand.

Gymnastics

Athlete: Olivia Dunne
School: LSU
Year: Junior
On3 NIL Valuation: $2.3 million

Dunne boasts a total social media following of more than eight million across TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. That’s one of the largest followings among high school and college athletes. For comparison, Bronny James, who sits atop the On3 NIL 100, has just over 12 million total followers.

Dunne has partnered with major companies in industries ranging from fashion (American Eagle Outfitters and Forever 21) to food (Grubhub) to tech (Linktree).

As a freshman, she earned All-America accolades on the uneven bars. She also trains in the all-around.

Lacrosse

Athlete: Belle Smith
School: Boston College
Year: Junior
On3 NIL Valuation: $19,300

Smith arrived at Boston College as the country’s No. 2 recruit, according to Inside Lacrosse. She lived up to the billing. As a freshman, she was a consensus All-American and the ACC Rookie of the Year after she set the program’s freshman records with 47 goals and 65 points.

She helped the Eagles win the national championship game, as they beat three of the top five teams in succession.

As a sophomore, Smith bested her freshman-season goal output by scoring 55 goals. There were three games in which she scored at least five goals, including when she scored seven against Loyola Maryland in the NCAA tournament. Once again, Boston College reached the national championship, where the Eagles fell 12-11 to No. 1 North Carolina.

Smith has been active through NIL, striking NIL deals with Boston Motor Sports and STX Women’s Lacrosse, among others. She’s also launched her own website, Belle5Lacrosse.

Soccer

Athlete: Penelope Hocking
School: Penn State
Year: Senior+
On3 NIL Valuation: $18,800

Hocking is in her first season at Penn State after spending the last four at USC, where she was a third-team All-American and the Pac-12 Forward of the Year last season. She has had a productive start to her season with the Nittany Lions. Hocking was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 25 after scoring in a 2-0 win over Rutgers and then scoring twice in a 5-0 win against Illinois.

During the spring 2021 season, Hocking was a United Soccer Coaches All-America first-team pick and a semifinalist for the Mac Hermann Trophy. Hocking was one of four Trojans to start all 14 matches, leading USC to a berth in the NCAA Tournament. She also led the Trojans with 10 goals, good for the second highest mark in the Pac- 12 and 12th in the nation. She also earned all-league honors as a sophomore and a freshman, including being named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

Hocking has also competed for the US U20 National Team. She made her first cap for the U20 USWNT in March 2018 in a friendly against France. She also competed for the U20 team at the World Cup in France during the summer of 2018, appearing as a sub against Spain and Paraguay.

Hocking’s father, Denny, played 13 years in the MLB for the Twins, Rockies and Royals.

Hocking has agreed to a NIL partnership with Penn State-focused NIL collective Success with Honor.

Softball

Athlete: Montana Fouts
School: Alabama
Year: Graduate student
On3 NIL Valuation: $146,000

Fouts is among the best pitchers in softball. She’s a three-time NFCA All-American, including a first-team selection in 2021 when she was named the NFCA Pitcher of the Year.

Fouts has also excelled on the sport’s biggest stage. She is a two-time Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team honoree. For her career, she has a 75-21 record, including 65 complete games in 90 career starts. She has 858 strikeouts compared to just 181 walks, along with a career 1.72 ERA.

Fouts has a massive social media presence and has been active through NIL opportunities. She hosted her own pitching camp and she has partnered with Diamond Kinetic, Fan Jolt, Bama Stuff and Cameo.

Track & field

Athlete: Tori Ortiz
School: Oklahoma State
Year: Graduate student
On3 NIL Valuation: $164,000

In 2022, Ortiz was named an All-Big 12 selection in both the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons. She earned honors in the indoor season in the 600 yards, then in the outdoor season as part of Oklahoma State’s 4×400-meter relay.

In the indoor season, she also helped break the school record in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:37.56 at the Razorback Invitational. Her personal-best time of 1:21.38 in the 600 yards ranks fourth in program history.

Ortiz has a massive social media presence with more than 13,000 followers on Twitter, 117,000 followers on Instagram and 564,400 followers on TikTok. She has used her social platforms to become a marketable athlete through NIL opportunities. Ortiz has executed a number of deals, including with Soul Runner, ATH Posters and Force Factor. She also has her own store on Amazon Merch on Demand.

Volleyball

Athlete: Julia Bergmann
School: Georgia Tech
Year: Senior
On3 NIL Valuation: $87,000

Bergmann, a 6-foot-5 outside hitter, is a reigning AVCA first-team All-American, one season after she was an honorable mention selection. She was also named the ACC Player of the Year last season, marking the third season in a row in which she was a first-team All-ACC selection.