$3.1 million NIL-valued Caitlin Clark gets creative as Iowa star collabs with Gatorade to design exclusive merchandise ahead of March Madness 2024
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark registered 34 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists during the Hawkeyes' 94-89 overtime win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big Ten championship game.
The $3.1 million NIL-valued Clark (as per On3) showed her creative streak while collaborating with NIL partner Gatorade to release personalized merchandise featuring her "Dream Big" tag.
The merchandise will be a custom-designed Gx Bottle and Gx Towel, which will sell on Gatorade's website for $45 starting March 19. The prominent colors will be blue and pink, Clark's favorites, and the No. 22 from her birthday and jersey number will be heavily featured.
The record-breaking Clark released a statement after Friday's announcement explaining the collaboration.
“This has been a year of dreams coming true for me on and off the court, and working with Gatorade to elevate women’s basketball is just one more example of that,” Clark said in a release. “This collab is all about inspiring young girls to chase their dreams. I always dream big, and now I want to show them: you can too.”
Gatorade will donate $25,000 to the Caitlin Clark Foundation and the Women’s Sports Foundation as part of the deal.
Caitlin Clark has her "worst half"
During the Iowa Hawkeyes win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big Ten championship game on Sunday, Caitlin Clark struggled for the first 20 minutes, missing all nine of her 3-point attempts and scoring only four points.
After the game, during her postgame news conference, the popular Clark summarized that barren period succinctly.
"Probably my worst half," she said.
She explained how she overcame her shooting woes in the second half, scoring 30 points and going 5 of 8 from 3-point range.
"I think the biggest thing was we just started running our offense in the second half," Clark said. "It was a lot better. It was a lot cleaner. We got good looks. We made a few more shots. When you get into the groove and into the game, those thoughts kind of don't even cross your mind. You're just there. You're playing. You trust one another."
She ended the contest as the top-scoring (327 points) and top assisting (112) player in the history of the Big Ten tournament, having played 13 games.
The Iowa Hawkeyes rescued themselves from an eight-point deficit with 2:38 remaining. They outscored the Cornhuskers 10-2 and forced overtime, where they squeaked past Nebraska to win the Big Ten for a third year in a row.