UConn star Paige Bueckers becomes first college athlete to sign endorsement deal with Gatorade

On Monday, Gatorade signed his first college athlete – Connecticut Women’s basketball star Paige Buckers. The deal is the first time Gatorade has signed someone to their name, image, and likeness (NIL), which now allows college athletes to profit.

Bueckers will “engage in marketing and community activities focused on driving impact on women’s basketball.”

Gatorade tweeted an exaggerated video of the star athlete, writing, “A point guard. A leader. A crate. And now, the newest member of the Gatorade Family. Welcome to the Gatorade family. with the team.”

In the video, Bueckers is heard saying:

“I won National Gatorade Player of the Year in high school and that’s when our relationship started. And now to be a real Gatorade athlete, it’s been magical for me. me, it’s amazing to me, it’s a blessing and I can’t wait to get started.”

The video ends with the words: “Welcome to the family, Paige.”

On Sunday, Gatorade teased the signing by tweeting a lightning bolt emoji representing their logo and a bucket emoji as well as “coming soon”.

The 20-year-old is averaging 20.5 points, 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 robberies and 1.3 tackles. She helped the Huskies reach the Finals last year as a freshman, and her sophomore season is showing promising signs of up to the high standards set at UConn under UConn. Legendary coach Geno Auriemma.

Current Gatorade athletes include Serena Williams, Elena Delle Donne, Zion Williamson, Jayson Tatum and Trevor Lawrence.

This is the Bueckers’ second NIL contract, coming three weeks after the deal with athletic footwear marketplace StockX was announced.