College basketball star and Hopkins native Paige Bueckers will make history, becoming the first college athlete of the “name, image and likeness” (NIL) era to design their own Nike shoe, the company announced Monday.
Paige Bueckers makes NIL first with Nike shoe featuring a Minnesota connection
The Hopkins native is a senior on the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team.
By Leo Pomerenke
December 3, 2024 at 6:10PM
The Nike G.T. Hustle 3 designed by Bueckers is baby blue with purple and white accents. It features the area codes of Hopkins and the University of Connecticut on the left tongue. The phrase “Be you, be great,” a message Bueckers receives from her father before every game, is featured on the left heel.
“It’s definitely motivating to wear your own shoe,” Bueckers said in a press release. “I grew up wearing Nikes — all the signature shoes — so it’s surreal to have this Player Edition model. I just want to show out in it.”
The UConn senior has worked with Nike since September 2023. The shoe will go on sale Dec. 7.
After a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, college athletes are allowed to profit off of their name, image and likeness. It allows athletes like Bueckers to use her NIL and partner with companies. Bueckers partners with Nike, Gatorade, Bose and more.
Bueckers is coming off the best season of her career, averaging a career-high 21.9 points per game and leading her UConn Huskies to the 2024 Final Four before losing to Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes.
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Leo Pomerenke
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