LSU Basketball Star Angel Reese Already Earns Hefty Paychecks

Angel Reese's stock instantly rose after her team, the Louisiana State University Tigers, won the NCAA women's basketball championship in April 2023. Her social media following exploded, and a slew of endorsement deals soon followed. "She's a businesswoman as well as anything else," Bob Lynch, the CEO of sponsorship-tracking company SponsorUnited, told Forbes shortly after the Tigers won the title. Admittedly, the basketball star did not originally believe LSU would walk away as NCAA champions. "But we won and everything came so fast," she explained to Interview in November. "I still haven't sat down and thought about everything I did this summer," Reese added.

As predicted, those endorsements came pouring in. At the time of this writing, Reese was among the highest-paid athletes with name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. She has endorsements with Coach, Amazon, TurboTax, Raising Cane's, Starry, and more. On3 estimated her NIL valuation at $1. million.

Even though the forward seems destined to go pro after her time at LSU is finished, she wanted to take advantage of her endorsement opportunities while at school. "WNBA players don't make as much money as they should," Reese told Teen Vogue in August. Even though she has multiple deals, Reese has been selective about which brands she partners with. "All money isn't good money. I had to realize that early on," Reese added. One company she happily partnered with was Mercedes, which led to her making her first big purchase since the money started pouring in.

Not long after the Louisiana State University Tigers took home the title, Angel Reese drove home a new Mercedes-Benz. "Why not get a new car when it's your 21st birthday week???" Reese wrote on Instagram while showing off her new ride. "This is a gift to myself for everything that I've accomplished in 1 YEAR," she added in the caption. According to On3, the NCAA star signed an NIL deal with Mercedes-Benz of Baton Rouge. As part of the deal, a portion of the car Reese posted on Instagram was paid for, and she paid off the balance.

Speaking of spending during her financial windfall, Reese told People in August that she had bought "a couple designer bags," plus her new car. "Luckily, I just did a deal [with Benz] — I just got a Benz," she told the outlet. Regarding the bags she mentioned, Reese signed a deal with Coach in February. She posted a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, where she gave each of her Tigers teammates a new designer bag from the brand.

Looking to strike while the iron was hot, Reese wanted to capitalize before going to the next level. "Being able to pitch those things with the team I have now is going to help me when I graduate and decide to go to the WNBA," she told Sports Illustrated in September 2023. The following month, Reese signed a headline-making shoe deal.

In October 2023, Shaquille O'Neal was named president of Reebok basketball. One of his first orders of business was to sign Angel Reese. A week after the former Los Angeles Lakers center assumed his new position, the company announced Reese was joining the team. "I am honored to be working closely with one of my longtime mentors, Shaq, along with a brand that I have admired since I was just a little kid," the Louisiana State University standout said in a statement at the time, per Fan Nation Kicks. "Angel is shaking up the space. ... I'm proud to welcome Angel into the Reebok family and can't wait to see how she will bring the brand's legacy to the next generation," O'Neal said about the NIL contract. Part of that deal included developing a line of shoes for the NCAA star called "Angel's Picks."

Teaming up with O'Neal was a natural fit for Reese as they both played for LSU. A few months before signing the Reebok deal, the forward starred in a commercial with another LSU star, teammate Flau'Jae Johnson, for Amazon. The two-minute spot, "Dormz," featured the players showing off their dorm rooms, with Reese's heavily decorated in pink.

While raking in paychecks on the NIL deals comes with obvious benefits, Reese also wanted to use her platform to benefit the younger generation. "It's cool because, one, you really don't see black women doing a lot of deals," she told People in August when discussing her exposure.