As March Madness commences, JuJu Wakins continues to make history on and off the court. The USC superstar guard recently signed a landmark exclusive deal with Fanatics and Fanatics Collectibles. ESPN reports that Watkins is the first women’s college athlete to sign such a deal.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Big 10 Player of the Year will be featured on Fanatics-branded memorabilia — including “photos, basketballs and more — and autographed cards and game-worn memorabilia inserted into cards.” Previously, Watkins has appeared in Bowman products, but now she’ll be featured in a USC Trojans uniform in 2025 Bowman University Chrome Basketball cards. The release of the memorabilia is set for April 3, 2025.
This is the latest deal in Watkins’ ever-growing NIL portfolio. So far, NIL has deals with Degree, United Airlines, State Farm, Gatorade, Nike, AT&T, Wells Fargo, and Taco Bell. She can be seen in numerous commercials, making her one of the most recognizable stars in college basketball.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Watkins spoke about how she hopes to open more doors for women athletes.
The thing is to make it more common. I feel like we’re in a space where everything is kind of groundbreaking and the intent is to make it more of a regular thing and hopefully, more women get more opportunities like this,” Watkins said.
She also spoke about her love of trading cards.
“I actually love unboxing trading cards – it’s really satisfying to me. This deal kind of pays homage to the fact that cards are such a big part of sports culture, so to be able to do something with the biggest brand in sports collectibles; it’s really cool to do,” she continued. This is kind of like a rite of passage as a basketball player and it’s a great opportunity for me.”
This season, Watkins is averaging 24.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. In the NCAA Tournament, USC is a number-one seed and will take on UNC Greensboro on 3/22 in the opening round.
Leave a Reply