What connects millions of fans to basketball stars apart from their dunks and dribbles? It’s their signature shoeline. Masses are still flaunting Air Jordan as a style statement, while court fanatics are drooling over King’s Nike brand. As soon as the shoeline hits the counter, fans flock to stores or online websites to grab their favorite sneakers.
In this boot backdrop, sports journalist Nick DePaula recently made headlines when he turned all heads by listing the future deals of the WNBA and NCAA stars. It had a lot of sneaker brands that had the fans delighted.
Who according to Nick DePaula will have their shoe lines?
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The WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu will launch her second collection of the Nike shoe. It will most probably happen during the summer of 2024. Similarly, her New York Liberty teammate Breanna Stewart will helm the project of her third Stewie shoe with the sporting goods brand Puma.
Similarly, the Louisiana State University Lady Tigers star Angel Reese will launch her first shoe collection in collaboration with Reebok. This event might likely happen during the end of the year.
There are three more important players who will venture into the market with their shoe game. They are the Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson, the Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark, and the University of Southern California Trojans freshman Juju Watkins. They already have inked deals with the sporting conglomerate Nike.
This shoe deal will be a game changer for them and will make them a household name. It will entice fans from all quarters to buy their goods in the hope of performing as skillfully as their stars.
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These three athletes in particular might become the leading face of Nike’s plans. It will be interesting to see Watkins since she is only a freshman and in her first season has made a lot of heads turn with her game-changing performances.
Which athletes had previously launched shoes?
Meanwhile, Nike had launched Sabrina 1 in September 2023. Fans were given an opportunity to choose from a plethora of colors and customize their sneakers as per their own wishes. However, it was Stewart who became the first WNBA athlete in 10 years to have her own shoe line. She had joined hands with PUMA in doing so. They had started the Stewie 1 series back in 2022. The footwear collection was lobbed again for a second time in 2023.
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This might be a motivation for a lot of athletes especially those in NCAA like Clark, Reese and Watkins. Perhaps with their sneaker line, they can match foot to foot with the WNBA stars once the former headway to the cash-rich league.
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