Sam Logic grew accustomed to playing in front of a crowd during her time as a Hawkeye.
The veteran point guard had a habit for wowing the thousands that would cram inside Carver-Hawkeye, Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, or one of the dozens of other North American venues she competed in during her four years at Iowa.
Now that she’s officially a professional, Logic has the opportunity to begin impressing a whole new set of fans, both in Atlanta and halfway around the world in Europe, following the end of the WNBA season in September.
“I probably will [go overseas] just because the season in the WNBA is so short,” Logic said. “It’s only four months long, so just having that opportunity to play and continue to get better will be big.”
Following in the footsteps of hundreds of different players who have come before her, Logic plans hop across and spend the off-season playing overseas.
Needing a way to stay sharp in the eight-month “off time,” many players flock to various overseas leagues, which serves as an extended training camp as well as a way to earn some significant money to augment their WNBA salaries.
The minimum salary for an WNBA rookie in 2015 tops out around $40,000, with possible incentive and signing bonuses that can often reach as high as $70,000 for first-year players.
It’s hardly chump change, considering starting salaries for most professions right out of school pay significantly less, but consider this: When former Baylor phenom Brittney Griner led the Phoenix Mercury to the Western Conference Finals in 2013, she did so on a salary of less than $50,000 from her WNBA club.
A month later, she had signed with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Women’s Chinese Basketball League for more than $600,000 a year, a nearly 1,100 percent increase.
And while Logic isn’t the mega star Griner was (at least not yet), the potential to cash in on significant money is just one of the unique perks afforded to players who do go overseas.
“Traveling the world and getting to play basketball for a living is something else that’s obviously such a huge blessing and something I’m looking forward to taking advantage of,” Logic said.
That being said, the Racine, Wisconsin, native is getting ahead of herself.
“To be honest, I haven’t really thought much about where specifically I’d go overseas,” Logic said. “Right now, this team here is what’s going to be my main focus for the next four months.”
No matter where she ends up, Logic has seen her dreams materialize in front of her before her 23rd birthday.
Whether she’s playing for a pittance or a small fortune in Atlanta or Oslo, those close to Logic know how much the opportunity to keep playing means to her.
Everything else is just icing on the cake.
“This has been Sam’s dream for a long time, well before she even came to the University of Iowa,” head coach Lisa Bluder said. “That’s what her aspiration has been since she was a little girl, and to see that aspiration come true is what every coach wants.”