Unmatched, the skilled ladies’s basketball league co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, introduced that UCONN star guard Paige Bueckers has joined the league by a groundbreaking NIL deal. A two-time All-American and reigning BIG EAST Participant of the 12 months, Bueckers turns into proprietor and companion of Unmatched, becoming a member of 30 elite athletes for its inaugural season, which can kick off in Miami in January 2025 Curtain.
Whereas Bueckers will not play within the league’s inaugural season, she is anticipated to play in future video games, making her the primary school athlete to personal a stake in knowledgeable sports activities league she plans to play in after school.
“I am so blessed and grateful to be part of this wonderful league. Enjoying an lively function within the development of girls’s sports activities is a dream come true. I am excited for the longer term, that is only the start!”
So blessed and grateful to be part of this wonderful league. Enjoying an lively function within the growth of girls’s sport is a dream come true. Trying ahead to the longer term, that is only the start! 🔥 https://t.co/xSCetSsDCH
— Paige Bueckers (@paigebueckers1) August 1, 2024
Unmatched made headlines earlier this 12 months when it introduced it might supply the best common wage in ladies’s skilled sports activities league historical past. The league introduced 10 of the 30 athletes who’ve dedicated to play in January, together with Stewart, Collier, Chelsea Grey, Aric Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Ryan Howard, Kaliyah Koper, Jackie Younger and Angel Reese. Further athlete bulletins are anticipated on August twelfth.
“Unmatched is proud to be part of the following technology of girls’s basketball as we glance to set new requirements for at the moment’s athletes and tomorrow’s legends,” mentioned Unmatched Commissioner Mickey Lawler. “The whole panorama of girls’s sports activities is altering in thrilling methods, and it is our accountability to proceed this modern spirit to result in optimistic change for all athletes, whether or not skilled or collegiate. Along with January we shall be on the courtroom “Along with the globally acknowledged elite expertise rising (of which solely a 3rd have been introduced), we’re extraordinarily excited to have Paige be part of the Unmatched household and we sit up for all that she’s going to accomplish.”
For extra info on Unmatched, observe @UnrivaledBasketball or go to unmatched.basketball.
