Paul Skenes' girlfriend Olivia Dunne makes her feelings known about Forbes' recognition of top 5 LSU student athletes
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes’ girlfriend, Olivia Dunne, paid tribute to Louisiana State University (LSU) athletes in an IG post.
Forbes recently highlighted the five most influential athletes attending LSU, among which Dunne herself headlines the list. The other athletes on the list are Mondo Duplantis, Flau’Jae Johnson, Sha’Carri Richardson, and Angel Reese.
Each athlete has excelled in their respective sports, bringing significant name recognition to the school and sport. As such, Dunne shared Forbes' post, highlighting how proud she feels about being included among other top student-athletes.
Dunne underscored her feelings about the post, captioning:
"Like always... Geaux Tigers."
As Forbes points out, the LSU stars' achievements go beyond their athletic prowess. Dunne, in particular, leads the way as the athlete with the most impressive NIL (name, image, likeness) generation.
Dunne reportedly generates around $4.2 million per year. These earnings stem from social media appearances and brand partnerships. Moreover, Dunne’s successful performances on the floor have led her to increased recognition.
Dunne, along with Paul Skenes, have formed one of the most successful athlete couples in recent history. Both athletes have had significant success in their respective sports while leveraging their NIL to generate a substantial financial gain.
Dunne raises stakes on Paul Skenes Debut patch card
Baseball America published a piece on December 13, detailing the wild hunt for a rare Paul Skenes Topps baseball card featuring the Debut logo on the card. There is only one such card in the entire collection, making it an extremely valuable item.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have offered a king’s ransom for the fan who finds the card: 30 years’ worth of season tickets.
However, Olivia Dunne took the Pirates' offer one step further by offering this, according to the NY Post:
“Let’s raise the stakes… the person who finds the card can sit with me at a Pirates game in my suite.”
So, in addition to getting season tickets, the lucky fan gets to enjoy Dunne's company. With such incentives, hopeful fans can only dream of finding the highly sought-after card.
Skenes' card can be found in the 2024 Topps Chrome Update set. Similar cards, such as the Junior Caminero one, have been valued at as much as $4,900.
The Skenes card has yet to be found. At the time of writing, 164 of 251 cards containing the patches have been located. Among the cards found include Caminero, Elly De La Cruz, Jackson Holliday, Jackson Chourio, and Wyatt Langford.
Names yet to be found include Jackson Merrill, Shota Imanaga, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Evan Carter, and Jasson Dominguez.
It’s worth pointing out that these Topps rookie cards are valuable in and of themselves. But with the added feature of the Debut patch, these cards are among the most valuable due to their rarity.
Retail prices for boxed, potentially with Debut patch cards, range from $49.99 to $399.99.