Paige Bueckers mania is ramping up already as the college basketball season approaches, and not in a healthy or safe way. The projected top-2 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft has been building in popularity along with the burgeoning WNBA and women’s college basketball in general.
Now that Caitlin Clark has sparked a revolution, everybody is waiting for the next big thing, and Paige is next up. She’s already got stalkers and had one arrested, an overzealous and creepy fan who was exposed when one social media hero put out a tweet saying a man on TikTok said he would sacrifice anyone near Bueckers.
After the tweet went viral, the fan said on social media that the man had been arrested.
Fan Of Paige Bueckers Named Cole Was Arrested For Stalking Her On Social Media
No names are attached to the report, but other tweets show the fan named Cole had a wedding ring and wedding invitations made for her and Bueckers, so you already see that he’s off.
He appears to have been really obsessed and his threats became increasingly violent and personal, and believable.
He even posted a picture of him and a cardboard cut out of Paige snuggled next to him with a huge smile.
The receipts on this guy started pouring in and it wasn’t adding up to anything that Bueckers or the WNBA wants to deal with going forward.
Social Media Helped Paige Bueckers Locate Lewd Stalker
Luckily the social media sleuths did their jobs
Bueckers has been active, from racking up some NIL deals to gambling in a Connecticut casino with rap stars to being identified, along with USC’s JuJu Watkins, as the next explosive wave of transcending women basketball players, who help continue the momentum started by Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and the like.
Bueckers’ stalker wanted the world to know that he was not wrapped too tight and a growing danger to Paige that had to be stopped before something bad did occur.
In one post Cole says: “I am coming to UConn Huskies to get Paige expelled from school…your human sex traffickers Sue Bird your a piece of sh-t.”
In this particular post, UConn legend Sue Bird caught a stray, which was further proof that this guy was becoming unhinged.
Paige Bueckers Making Big NIL Bag
The UConn star is already hauling in a bag, with a truckload of endorsements and brand collaborations.
The total value of Bueckers’ business ventures is expected to be in the six- to seven-figure territory. She’s been getting NIL deals since she entered college at the esteemed basketball factory in 2020.
Per On3’s NIL tracker, she entered the 2023-24 campaign with the fourth-highest NIL valuation among women’s basketball players ($643,000), only eclipsed by LSU’s Angel Reese and rap sensation Flau’jae Johnson and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.
This season, with Paige Buckets healthy and positioned to make a run at an NCAA title, win a Player of the Year award and go No. 1 in the WNBA Draft, her net worth will probably double, if it hasn’t already thanks to her second deal with Nike.
Bueckers signed a multi-year deal with Nike, UConn’s official outfitter, last September of 2023. Bueckers joined the likes of Clark and her hoops idol Kobe Bryant as athletes to rock the famous swoosh.
“I am blessed and honored to announce my partnership with Nike,” Bueckers said in a statement. “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.”
As part of her agreement with Nike, Bueckers modeled the corporation’s GT Hustle 2 Shoe and it was recently announced that Bueckers will become the first college player to get a Signature Nike Shoe.
This latest deal is even more historic.
As The Shadow League previously reported, Nike will honor Bueckers with a special edition of the GT Hustle 3, which debuted earlier in July. The “multi-color” sneakers pay tribute to both UConn and Bueckers’ hometown of Edina, Minnesota.
These exclusive shoes are expected to hit the market on Sept. 12, with a retail price of $190.
In addition to joining the Nike family and solidifying her financial future, Paige Buckets has also done business with Dunkin’, Leaf Trading Cards, GoArmy, Chegg, Nerf, Crocs, Bose and StockX.
Paige Bueckers Continues To Make History On and Off Court
Bueckers made more history with her Gatorade deal, becoming the first collegiate athlete in the NIL era to ink a deal with the drink manufacturer in 2021. Bueckers and her teammate Azzi Fudd teamed up via NIL portal, linking with Bose to promote two different lines of wireless headphones.
The deal, initially inked in 2022, represented Bueckers’ first since tearing her ACL before the 2022-23 season.
She’s known as an NIL trailblazer and credited for her willingness to give back to the community. Her most recent partnership — a very personal one to the UConn community — is taking her into the beauty space for the first time, while including a few teammates as well.
In conjunction with announcing their new ColorWonder Demi-Permanent Hair Color product innovation, leading beauty brand Madison Reed — founded by UConn alum Amy Errett — has tipped off a long-term partnership with the Huskies athletic program and women’s basketball team.
To celebrate, the brand has premiered a Team ColorWonder marketing campaign starring Bueckers and teammates Azzi Fudd, Ice Brady and Morgan Cheli.
Bueckers has a bright future ahead of her and is quickly learning about the price of fame.
This stalking incident is even more proof that women’s basketball is reaching new audiences, and security must be heightened for these ladies when traveling, which makes the plan to have every player flying on private chartered planes a must.
