JuJu Watkins, Flau’jae Johnson, Azzi Fudd Among 14 to Sign Unrivaled NIL Contracts

USC’s JuJu Watkins, LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson and UConn’s Azzi Fudd are among the 14 college stars who have signed new NIL contracts with Unrivaled ahead of its second season, the 3×3 women’s basketball league announced Saturday.

UCLA’s Kiki Rice, Lauren Betts and Sienna Betts, Texas’ Madison Booker, Iowa State’s Audi Crooks, LSU’s MiLaysia Fulwiley, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, South Carolina’s Ta’Niya Latson, TCU’s Olivia Miles, UConn’s Sarah Strong and Michigan’s Syla Swords also inked contracts with the league.

Johnson previously signed an NIL deal including an equity stake in Unrivaled ahead of the league’s inaugural 2025 season. Her new contract does not include a stake in the league, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.

She joined Fudd, Hidalgo and Strong with league representatives in Indianapolis for an announcement made during the WNBA All-Star Weekend, per Winsidr’s Myles Ehrlich.

Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers signed her own deal involving a stake in the league ahead of the 2025 season.

Unrivaled already inked Bueckers to a second deal spanning three years ahead of her selection on top of the 2025 WNBA draft.

According to Andrews, the first year of Bueckers’ Unrivaled deal is expected to pay her more than her entire four-year WNBA rookie contract.

Bueckers is set to earn just over $348,000 on her first WNBA contract if the Wings pick up her fourth-year club option, per Spotrac.

Johnson and Bueckers aren’t the only players to ink new deals with Unrivaled after previous involvement with the league. Watkins joined investors, including Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, in contributing to league’s $28 million Series A investment round last winter, per Sportico’s Jacob Feldman.

Unrivaled ultimately spent more than $7 million on player salaries while making $27 million in revenue during its first season, per Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports. Unrivaled commissioner Micky Lawler told Costabile the league “almost broke even.” 

Unrivaled’s inaugural season featured 36 players split across six clubs of the Lunar Owls, Rose, Laces, Vinyl, Mist and Phantom.

League president Alex Bazzell told USA Today‘s Safid Deen that the league plans to add between six and eight players to the pool in 2026 and expand to multiple other playing sites outside of Miami in the future.

Drawing interest by bringing in some of the top players in college basketball, including the reigning player of the year in Watkins and defensive player of the year in Betts, could help Unrivaled pursue those revenue and expansion goals in the future.