Former Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu, the likely No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft on Friday, has a unique opportunity for women’s basketball players.
Apparel companies have pursued her for a signature shoe deal.
Puma, Nike and Under Armour are among companies that have been in contact with her, according to NBC Sports.
Unsurprisingly, Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry has been part of the Under Armour pitch. Curry and Ionescu are friends, and the Warriors star has been in frequent contact pushing her about the apparel company.
“I think he texts me almost every day. He’s working hard,” Ionescu said with a laugh while on the NBC’s “Runnin’ Plays” Warriors podcast.
Curry famously signed with Under Armour in 2013 after his original Nike deal ended.
Ionescu is also coming off being a Nike athlete, as the company sponsors Oregon and sold her jersey last season.
“I have not made a shoe deal decision yet on who to sign with. Obviously I have a great relationship with Steph so that part’s kind of hard,” Ionescu said. “I have a great relationship with Nike … for 10 years. Puma’s also kind of on the up-and-coming. There’s a lot of pro and cons to all of them.”
Ionescu has achieved fame at Oregon, becoming the all-time NCAA leader in triple-doubles, regardless of gender, and became the first NCAA Div. 1 player to record 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds in a career.
With her notoriety around the basketball world, she is on track to be one of the rare women basketball players to get sneaker a deal.
“Before this all happened I never thought about it because I didn’t think it was even a possibility,” Ionescu said. “Women don’t usually have signature shoes.
“Listening to a lot of these companies and the goals and visions that they had to have a signature shoe down the line, I was like, ‘Oh, actually that would be pretty cool.”
