According to Steve Jaconetta of Sole Retriever, Nike is preparing to launch a new sneaker for UConn women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers, making her the first college player to receive her own signature shoe. The figures of her deal, which reportedly is lucrative, have not been revealed as of today.
Paige Bueckers Becomes First College Player To Get Signature Nike Shoe
Jaconetta reports that Nike will honor Bueckers with a special edition of the GT Hustle 3, which debuted earlier in July.
The “multi-color” sneakers will pay tribute to both UConn and Bueckers’ hometown of Edina, Minnesota.
These exclusive shoes are expected to hit the market on September 12, with a retail price of $190.
When Bueckers joined the Nike team in September 2023, ESPN’s Michael Voepel predicted that the deal could extend into her professional career.
That possibility has become a definite as Nike is creating a shoe for the 22-year-old before she enters the WNBA.
Bueckers, who signed a sponsorship deal with Nike, made a remarkable return from a torn ACL to average 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game in her junior year, while leading UConn back to a familiar place in the Final Four.
“I am blessed and honored to announce my partnership with Nike,” Bueckers said in a statement last year. “Joining the Nike family is a childhood dream come true. I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together on and off the court.”
Shoe deals have historically been elusive even for professional women’s basketball stars.
The ones that do have deals are predominantly white. New York Liberty sharpshooter Sabrina Ionescu, her teammate Breanna Stewart and Caitlin Clark are among the WNBA players with deals.
Sheryl Swoopes was the first WNBA player to get a signature shoe from Nike back in 1995.
It had been over a decade since a woman had received a signature sneaker until last year when Breanna Stewart’s Puma Stewie 1 hit shelves, followed by the release of Elena Delle Donne’s Nike Air Deldon.
The Swoosh has also announced Ionescu’s upcoming signature silhouette, the Nike Sabrina 1.
Black Twitter Watches Another White Woman Get A Nike Shoe Deal
Of course there are some hoops fans who appreciate Bueckers but don’t understand why other great, marketable and famous players such as JuJu Watkins (USC) or rapper/all-world baller Flau’Jae Johnson (LSU) didn’t get the deal.
“Nike’s willingness to throw money at a white girl with a ponytail and a jump shot is offensive at times,” said sports analyst David Grubb on his “Hard In The Paint” podcast. “Another white girl playing a Black sport with a shoe deal.”
Nobody was even paying attention to WNBA shoe deals until Clark got her $28 million deal with Nike and then the pressure for Wilson to get her shoe ramped up on Black Twitter.
Wilson recently joined a select group of only 13 WNBA players in history who have landed their own signature sneaker in the past 30 years.
Bueckers’ achievement will be greeted with some side eyes from folks who don’t like the math when it comes to the racial composition of the WNBA and the women who happen to get sneaker deals recently.
Nike’s decision to honor Bueckers with her own shoe does, however, reflects her incredible talent and potential influence.
It also represents a burgeoning recognition of women’s basketball stars as marketable and revenue-generating brands with an increasing fan base.
