Caitlin Clark, one of the most popular players in NCAA women’s basketball, signed a name, image, and likeness deal with Nike ahead of the 2022-23 season.

The Iowa star was one of five student-athletes signed by Nike on Oct. 11. The popular sports brand also made deals with high school players Bronny James — the son of NBA veteran Lebron James — DJ Wagner, and Juju Watkins. Clark’s deal comes alongside Nike signing Stanford women’s basketball player Haley Jones.

Clark, now a junior, is a two-time winner of the Dawn Staley Award — an award given to the best guard in collegiate women’s basketball. Clark was the Big Ten Player of the Year last season. She has been named a first-team All-American twice.

Last season, Clark became the first player in Division I collegiate basketball to lead the nation in both points and assists per game, averaging 27 and eight, respectively. 

“Obviously, I’m very honored and blessed to have that,” Clark said about the deal with Nike on Oct. 11 at Big Ten Basketball Media Days in Minneapolis. “Obviously, [as] somebody who grew up loving sports, I played a lot of different sports growing up. A lot of the athletes I loved were part of the Nike family, so to become one of them is truly an honor.”

During her first two seasons in Iowa City, Clark took the women’s basketball world by storm. She has formed relationships with multiple professional athletes and celebrities. Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant and rap artist Travis Scott have both mentioned Clark on social media.

But Clark’s play isn’t just helping her pop up on celebrities’ feeds. It’s also helping get more eyes on women’s basketball.

The 2022 NCAA women’s basketball championship game between UConn and South Carolina attracted 4.85 million viewers — the most for any college basketball game on ESPN since 2008. 

Meanwhile, the Big Ten Network, home to many Iowa women’s basketball games in 2022, enjoyed the most-watched season of women’s hoops in its history. The network’s average of 70,000 TV viewers per game was up 41 percent from the previous season.

Four of the highest-rated women’s basketball games in BTN history were played during last year’s Big Ten Tournament. The highest-viewed contest was the tournament semifinal between Iowa and Nebraska, which drew 286,000 viewers as Clark dropped 41 points on the Cornhuskers.

The Hawkeyes’ 92-88 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 31 was BTN’s most-watched regular season women’s basketball game, with 164,000 tuning in.

“As a conference, we’re extremely lucky and blessed to have Caitlin in our league,” Purdue women’s basketball coach Katie Gearlds said. “The national attention she gets and what it does to elevate our game and our brand … hate playing against her, hate game-planning against her, but what she does is, I mean, she puts eyes on all of us.”

Northwestern women’s basketball head coach Joe McKeown said Clark’s style is attracting new spectators to the sport.

“She just has this charisma and personality, too, that people want to watch,” McKeown told The Daily Iowan. “Give her a lot of credit; her game speaks for itself. But the way she plays, she’s brought fans into our game that maybe wouldn’t normally watch women’s basketball. And I think that’s where it’s really helped everybody.”

McKeown’s squad is 3-2 against Iowa in the past two seasons. The Wildcats and Hawkeyes are set to face off once this season on Jan. 11 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

Rutgers hasn’t beaten Iowa in Clark’s two seasons in Black and Gold, losing by margins of six, 11, and nine points, respectively. Rutgers junior guard Erica Lafayette said, while Clark increases the popularity of women’s basketball around the country, she also raises the level of the game. 

“She helps us a lot,” Lafayette said. “I think she helps everyone level up their game because we know we have to guard her. And if you don’t guard her, she’s going to punch you in the mouth. You don’t want to get that. So, I think she just levels up the game 10 times more, you know, makes everyone feel like you have to work harder.”