Top 10 On3 NIL Valuations in women’s college basketball

Jeremy Crabtreeby:Jeremy Crabtree•11/07/22•

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With the college basketball season starting Monday, there will be more and more opportunities for men and women players to expand their NIL opportunities. Yet, there are some student-athletes, especially in women’s hoops that have already made a name for themselves because of their On3 NIL Valuations and a number of executed deals.

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 calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out to as long as 12 months into the future.

Here’s a look at the top 10 women’s basketball players with the highest On3 NIL Valuation heading into the 2022-2023 basketball season.

No. 1 Paige Bueckers

On3 NIL Valuation: $818,000
On3 NIL 100 ranking: 37
Per Post Value: $11,200

Paige Bueckers, the 2020-21 National Player of the Year, won’t be playing basketball this winter. The UConn star announced in August she had suffered an ACL injury. That has not hurt her marketability, though. She recently signed on with Bose. Bueckers has a deal with Crocs, and she became the first student-athlete to ever sign a NIL deal with Gatorade back in December. Since then, she’s rolled out her own custom bottle as part of Gatorade’s Fuel Tomorrow Gx Collection. Even though she won’t be on the court this season, she still is the biggest brand in women’s college basketball.

No. 2 Hanna Cavinder

On3 NIL Valuation: $801,000
On3 NIL 100 ranking: 40
Per Post Value: $10,800

Maybe no two athletes have defined the NIL Era more than the Cavinder Twins. Hanna Cavinder and her sister Haley started the new age of the NCAA with a major move, announcing a deal with Boost Mobile in New York City’s Times Square. Since then, they’ve inked more than 30 other partnerships. They’ve harnessed the power of being twins in the social media age, too. They each have their own Instagram account, while also sharing a page. Add that to a combined TikTok account with more than 4.6 million followers and there’s loads of potential.

No. 3 Haley Cavinder

On3 NIL Valuation: $801,000
On3 NIL 100 ranking: 41
Per Post Value: $10,800

The Cavinder Twins announced plans this past spring to transfer from Fresno State to Miami. And while the two have come out and stated NIL did not play a role in their move to South Beach, there’s no questioning the profit they stand to make off the move. Playing for an ACC team in a major media market gets their brand in front of more eyeballs automatically. Plus, the opportunity to seriously contend for an NCAA Tournament bid. That’s something the twins were never able to accomplish at Fresno State.

No. 4 Flaujae Johnson

On3 NIL Valuation: $587,000
On3 NIL 100 ranking: 61
Per Post Value: $8,000

Flaujae Johnson has the potential to be the biggest name in the NIL space. She has an established following already because of her hip-hop brand, and she’s really just starting to build on her on-court recognition. Brands have started to realize that, too. The LSU freshman signed a shoe deal with Puma in September. She showed off one of the perks of the Puma deal this past weekend in Baton Rouge – a purple and yellow ice cream truck with her and the shoe company’s branding all over it. One of the top-ranked recruits in the 2022 class, Johnson was a McDonald’s All-American. Johnson’s social media following is huge, too, thanks to her hip-hop presence. With 1.1 million followers on social media, she has another 124,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel. Johnson has the opportunity to earn millions in NIL over the course of her career in Baton Rouge.

No. 5 Hailey Van Lith

On3 NIL Valuation: $541,000
On3 NIL 100 ranking: 76
Per Post Value: $7,400

Hailey Van Lith is one of the most marketable athletes in the NIL Era. The Louisville basketball star got the Cardinals to the Final Four this past season before falling to South Carolina. The All-ACC first-team pick averaged 14.4 points per game in 34 games. She has built a strong social media following, too. She has more than 783,000 social media followers. Adidas, Dicks Sporting Goods, Valentino, Overtime and Billionaire Girls Club have all signed deals with the Louisville star. “I think one thing I’ve learned from all this, is at the end of the day, you determine what you want out of it,” Van Lith recently told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “I’ve been very specific in what I’m looking to partner with, what I’m willing to put my image on.” She is also represented for NIL deals by Octagon, a global PR agency that also represents the likes of Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry and Olympic great Simone Biles.

No. 6 Sedona Prince

On3 NIL Valuation: $530,000
On3 NIL 100 ranking: 83
Per Post Value: $7,300

Oregon’s Sedona Prince became a TikTok star during the 2021 NCAA Tournament when she exposed the disparity between the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament. Her videos spurred real change. For starters, there are now 68 teams in the women’s tourney. Players now receive an identical gift bag to their male counterparts. Prince has also become a bit of a celebrity. She has 3.3 million social media followers. She won Female Athlete of the Year at the inaugural NIL Summit. And she’s signed some sweet partnerships, inking deals with crocs, Native and Doordash. Yet, we won’t get to see her make an impact on the court this season. Oregon announced in late October that Prince suffered a season-ending ligament tear in her elbow and that she will subsequently skip the 2022-23 season to turn pro this spring.

No. 7 Mia Mastrov

On3 NIL Valuation: $337,000
Per Post Value: $4,600

Cal Bears guard Mia Mastrov has masterfully crafted her brand on and off the court. Her father, 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov, helped her understand the importance of brand awareness at a young age. “You don’t have to be defined as one thing. You can do all things, and still be powerful in every aspect of those things,” Mastrov recently told the SF Chronicle. Mastrov, who appeared in all 24 games for the Cal Bears in the 2021-2022 season, has professional modeling experience and a passion for high-end fashion. She boasts more than 779,000 followers across her social media accounts – including nearly 404,000 on TikTok alone.

No. 8 Jaden Owens

On3 NIL Valuation: $213,000
Per Post Value: $2,900

Jaden Owens was honored as a 2022 Academic All-Big 12 first-team selection for the Baylor Bears. Owens owns one of the largest social media presences in college sports. She has more than 253,000 Instagram followers and 145,000 TikTok followers. She’s done a number of NIL deals, including with Overtime Fits, Buff City Soap, Champs Sports, H&R Block, Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, Reebok, Urban Skin RX, Banter by Piercing Pagoda, Vital Performance and many others.

No. 9 Deja Kelly

On3 NIL Valuation: $193,000
Per Post Value: $2,700

North Carolina guard Deja Kelly is a force on and off the court. On the court, Kelly, a junior, was a first-team All-ACC first-team selection after averaging 16.5 points per game. She was also named to the Greensboro Regional All-Tournament Team after scoring a team-high 23 points in a Sweet 16 battle with eventual national champion South Carolina. Away from basketball, Kelly has amassed a huge following on social media, which has helped build her NIL brand. Kelly has more than 588,000 followers, including nearly 400,00 on TikTok alone. Her videos on TikTok have generated more than 8.4 million likes. So, it’s no surprise she’s racked up a long list of NIL deals, including from companies like Essentia Water, Actively Black and KINLÒ.

No. 10 Zia Cooke

On3 NIL Valuation: $188,000
Per Post Value: $2,600

Entering the season, Zia Cooke is one of the most decorated players in South Carolina history. Cooke is a two-time honorable mention All-American and a two-time All-SEC selection. She was also named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team twice in 2021 and 2022 helping the Gamecocks win the 2022 national title over the UConn Huskies. Cooke scored eight of the team’s first 17 points against UConn in the title game. Cooke has also been active on the NIL front, earning major deals with companies all over the country. “It just shows that we can do a lot of things that a lot of people say we can’t do,” she told CBS News. “To see all the girls on there for the NIL, and I think it was just one boy, shows that we can do literally everything they can do. It’s a business and it’s super effective for women and men.”

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