USC Trojans' JuJu Watkins Signs NIL Deal With Fanatics, Makes History

USC Trojans star guard JuJu Watkins agreed to an NIL with Fanatics this week. She became the first female to have a Fanatics memorabilia "Bowman University Chrome" Topps trading card. Watkins and the Trojans are flying high this season and are projected to be a top seed in the 2025 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

Mar 8, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; South California Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) attempts a free throw against Michigan Wolverines during the second half of the Big Ten Conference Tournament semifinals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Stephanie Amador Blondet-Imagn Images / Stephanie Amador Blondet-Imagn Images

USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins added another NIL deal on Friday, with a multi-year deal with Fanatics.

JuJu Watkins will be the first female athlete to get a Bowman University Chrome card from Topps as part of the agreement. 

NEWS: USC star JuJu Watkins has signed a historic multi-year NIL deal with Fanatics.

Watkins becomes the first female collegiate athlete ever to have a deal of this kind with Fanatics.

Read: https://t.co/BjM57X4Qc8 pic.twitter.com/dXpYW99Xxo

— On3 NIL (@On3NIL) March 14, 2025

JuJu Watkins Secures Another NIL Deal

USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) runs a play Saturday, March 8, 2025, in a semifinals game at the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. / Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins is taking full advantage of her superstardom when it comes to signing NIL deals. Watkins is in numerous commercials and has countless different NIL agreements with companies. 

Just to name a few, Watkins currently has NIL deals with Degree, United Airlines, State Farm, Gatorade, Nike, AT&T, Wells Fargo, and Taco Bell.

Earlier this week, Watkins starred in a Mondelez commercial with Oregon Ducks men’s basketball player, Jackson Shelstad. The commercial was part of Mondelez’s March Madness ad campaign. 

JuJu Watkins' NIL Valuation

UCLA Bruins guard Kiki Rice (1) guards USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) as she passes the ball during the second half of the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament final game on Sunday, March 9, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. UCLA defeated USC 72-67. / Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

JuJu Watkins has one of the highest NIL valuations for any college basketball player. Watkins has a valuation of $739 thousand. This is the sixth highest valuation for a women's collegiate athlete, trailing only five other women's basketball players; LSU Tigers’ Flau’jae Johnson, UConn Huskies’ Paige Bueckers, Miami Hurricanes’ Haley Cavinder, Miami Hurricanes Hanna Cavinder, and TCU Horned Frogs’ Hailey Van Lith. 

Including the mens side, Watkins has an overall NIL valuation that ranks in the top 50. Her number of $739 thousand is only going to go up as she is only a sophomore and getting better. 

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USC Trojans Eyeing Final Four, National Championship

Feb 13, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lindsay Gottlieb and her players celebrate defeating the UCLA Bruins at Galen Center. The Bruins came into the game ranked #1 in the country. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

When the NCAA Selection Committee releases the 2025 NCAA Women’s Tournament bracket on Selection Sunday, the Trojans will most likely be one of the four No. 1 seeds. This would be the second year in a row USC would have earned a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. 

Led by a freshman JuJu Watkins in 2024, the Trojans got all the way to the elite eight. They came up short and lost to Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies.

According to ESPN’s latest bracketology, the Trojans, along with the South Carolina Gamecocks, Texas Long Hornhorns, and UCLA Bruins, are the projected No. 1 seeds. 

UCLA and USC met in the Big Ten tournament championship game last weekend. The Bruins came out victorious with a 72-67 win. This was straight of the heels of USC beating UCLA both times in the regular season to win the Big Ten regular season championship. 

If USC secures a No. 1 seed, their NCAA Tournament run will begin with a matchup against a No. 16 seed in the first round at the Galen Center. That team right now is projected to be Tennessee Tech per ESPN's bracketology. If the Trojans were to win that, they would face the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game between the Cal Golden Bears and Mississippi State Bulldogs.

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