Life looks very different for Paige Bueckers now. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft signed a rookie contract with the Dallas Wings worth $348,198, but her real fortune comes from the endorsement empire she built before ever stepping onto a professional court. Interestingly, that journey from a broke college athlete to a financial powerhouse began with Bueckers borrowing her mom’s credit card just to cover food and gas.
How Did Paige Bueckers Build a Financial Empire in College?
During her UConn days, Paige Bueckers was just another student-athlete juggling incredible on-court performances with an empty wallet. In the 2020-21 season, for instance, Bueckers scored 581 points, shooting an efficient 52.4% from the field and a deadly 46.4% from three-point range. Despite those numbers, financial struggle was a persistent reality before the NIL era. The college stipend money never lasted long, which led to her relying on her mom, Amy Fuller, a former college runner, for financial support.
“So, she (Fuller) wasn’t really happy about that,” said Bueckers in an interview with “Fortune.” However, everything changed in 2021 when the Supreme Court opened the NIL floodgates. As Bueckers puts it, “Then [name, image, and likeness] came into place, and then my mom [got] her credit card back.”
Within months, Bueckers signed her first deal with StockX, a company that recognized what UConn fans already knew: Bueckers was a brand in the making. Soon after, something monumental happened when Gatorade signed her. For decades, the iconic sports drink had been associated with legends like Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, Abby Wambach, Elena Delle Donne, Candace Parker, and Zion Williamson. Suddenly, there was Bueckers, the first college athlete ever to join the Gatorade family.
View this post on Instagram
The 5-foot-11 point guard from Minnesota found herself standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the icons she grew up watching. “It happened super fast, and I really wasn’t prepared for it,” Bueckers said, looking back. “Building your wealth in college and starting to really understand finances is something that I didn’t really know, and so I was kind of forced to know.”
Before her collegiate career ended, Bueckers had secured deals with lifestyle brands like Nike, Crocs, and CVS Pharmacy, as well as household names like Dunkin’ and Taco Bell. Tech companies like Bose and GoArmy also saw value in her influence, while beauty giants Madison Reed and CeraVe featured her in campaigns celebrating female athletes. Trading card companies Topps, Panini America, and Leaf even cashed in on the “Paige Buckets” mania.
In a bold move, Bueckers also signed on for ownership equity in Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 league launched by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. As of yesterday, Unrivaled is valued at $340 million. By the end of the 2024-25 season, Bueckers’ net worth was estimated to be $1.5 million, per On3.
UConn’s Paige Bueckers is signing an NIL deal with the new women’s basketball league Unrivaled that makes her the first NCAA athlete to receive ownership equity in a league. Bueckers is expected to play in Unrivaled, along with the WNBA, after her college career is over. pic.twitter.com/NkPImheHig
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 1, 2024
That figure represents not just income but true financial independence, and it’s proof of how quickly the women’s basketball landscape has changed. Now, as a rookie in Dallas, Bueckers will earn $78,831 in her first year. Additionally, the scope of her deal with Unrivaled has grown. Soon after the WNBA draft, she committed to play under a three-year contract with the league, where players are set to earn salaries averaging over $220,000, nearly matching the top base pay in the WNBA.
With her rookie contract in Dallas, a growing list of endorsements, and a three-year Unrivaled deal worth nearly triple her WNBA base salary, Bueckers has become one of the sport’s most financially secure young stars. From a $1.5 million net worth built at UConn to an equity stake in an emerging league, she has turned opportunity into long-term stability.
