NIL opportunities for women grow as brands partner with Arizona's Maya Nnaji, Jaelyn Hodge, others

Maya Nnaji got the ball rolling with a simple social media post: “Crumbl, you have my heart.”

That was all Danielle Adefeso needed to work her magic and — presto! — a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal was formed between Nnaji, a sophomore forward on the Arizona women’s basketball team, and the local Tucson franchise of Crumbl.

Actually, it was two deals — One for Nnaji, which will take flight once basketball season gets going, and the other for UA volleyball player Jaelyn Hodge.

Hodge, a senior outside hitter, also saw herself as a match for Crumbl, a Utah-based fresh cookie shop more than 800 bakeries globally. That includes Tucson, where Matt Rudder owns three (soon to be four) Crumbl stores.

“When I was in high school, I would go to Crumbl with my teammates every week and try the new flavor,” Hodge said.

Chocolate chip is her go-to, but she wouldn’t turn down a waffle cookie with syrup on top.

A week ago, in announcing her deal, Hodge shared some cookies — confetti, chocolate peanut butter puffs, french silk pie, and of course, her favorite — with her teammates after a mid-week practice at Richard Jefferson gymnasium on the UA campus.

Adefeso and Rudder were both on the UA campus that day to celebrate Hodge’s deal.

To be fair, there’s much more to making an NIL deal take shape than just an athlete’s social media interest; Adefeso, a UA basketball player herself from 2001-05, makes it her business to help women athletes navigate that ever-evolving NIL landscape. Once the connection was made between Nnaji and Crumbl, Adefeso made the deal happen for both UA athletes.

“Maya was passionate about it and it was pretty organic,” Rudder said. “I’m passionate about women’s volleyball; passionate about women’s basketball. … It was an easy connection for me. I wanted to get involved with the teams here locally. For us, from a Crumbl or a cookie basis, there’s nothing more Tucson than the University of Arizona.”

Rudder and Adefeso had numerous conversations for both sides to understand each other’s goals, how to integrate Nnaji and Hodge into Crumbl’s campaign. They worked together to ensure everyone followed the UA athletic department’s compliance policies, as well as the eventual signing of contracts.

Adefeso, who is the founder and CEO of Elevated Sports Group, represents several Arizona student-athletes from the women’s basketball and volleyball squads. Her first foray into the NIL world was helping former UA hoops standout Sam Thomas with her clothing line.

That fit was perfect, as Adefeso runs the HGHT clothing line, which caters to NBA players and others (and she was even Arizona coach Adia Barnes’ stylist last season).

Staying true to one’s brand

More importantly, it was the right connection for Thomas. Adefeso looks for opportunities that “speak to the student athlete” when seeking deals for the young women she works with.

“Just like those cookies, it should be a genuine deal,” Adefeso said. “I think that you have to tap into what the kids want. NIL is name, image and likeness — so it should be things that they like. They are building their brand, so they stand behind these deals and it’s real. It’s authentic.”

All Nnaji’s deals over the past year have been staying true to her personal “brand.” From Dunkin’ Donuts and Cricket to now Fry’s and Crumbl. Nnaji is a consumer of these brands, which is reflected in her online posts.

Giving is at the core of who Nnaji is, whether it’s bringing food to the homeless, having a holiday food drive in Tucson, or even starting the Nnaji Family Foundation (along with her parents Apham and Janel, her younger sister Josie and brother Zeke, former Wildcat who plays for the Nuggets), so Adefeso has helped shape NIL deals that reflect that.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“You can tell (Adefeso) cares about you as a person first before the NIL stuff or the athlete or whatever,” Nnaji said. “We have done NIL deals that cater to who I am as a person, which is really important to me. Instead of just going for profit, every deal, I’ve done food drives, and just community service events that are that I’m really big on. She’s able to do that for me, organize those things. She’s really hands on.”

One of the latest strategic partnerships for Nnaji is Fry’s. The grocery chain reached out to Adefeso for their back-to-school healthy eating campaign and liked Nnaji’s social media presence — as well as the fact that she retains followers and reaches the right demographic. These are also stats that helps companies determine who they want representing their brand.

Nnaji also showed that she knows her way around a grocery store and a kitchen — thanks to her dad teaching her how to cook. In her reel that is posted on her Instagram account, she went shopping and prepared her signature dish, a chicken sandwich.

Creating opportunities

All of these partnerships come about in different ways.

Another recent volleyball deal was an activation for Hyper and Vice’s pop-up at the UA bookstore last week. This time it was for freshman Sydnie Vanek and transfer Jordan Wilson. It was Vanek who reached out to Adefeso for help getting this deal completed.

Wilson’s first deal as a Wildcat was with a company called Hyperice that sells recovery devices; that included a photo shoot in Los Angeles. Wilson said that with a jammed schedule of practice, games and schoolwork, it helps having someone in your corner who gets it and can take off the extra stress of having to find deals, negotiate and complete contracts.

In general, NIL deals on the women’s side haven’t reached the heights as those for men over the last two years.

There are some exceptions, including college basketball’s Hanna and Haley Cavinder. The twins, who started their careers at Fresno State before transferring to Miami, were among the first to sign deals when NIL started in July of 2021 and are said to have made nearly $2 million.

Then, there is Wildcat freshman point guard Jada Williams, who’s recent NIL valuation by On3NiL is close to $450,000. She has 1.1 million online followers across her social media platforms. Her deals so far have been with Spalding, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gymshark, Lemon Perfect and Move. She is represented by The Fam sports agency, which has a stable of women’s basketball players they work with, including former UA standout Aari McDonald.

Little by little, more opportunities are being presented to women. Adefeso is working to evolve this space — and not just one student-athlete at a time. She’s now working on team deals for women’s basketball to help raise the profile and brand of these young women whether they are a starter or the last player on the bench.

“It’s not like the men are being neglected or left behind in this space,” Adefeso said. “Naturally, I gravitate to how can I fix or change things? That’s who I am as a person. I think the men’s side needs structure but I don’t think it needs my help right now. I focus on women’s sports and because I’m a woman who played sports, I think that helps me work with the young girls. I’ve been there, done that.”

<&rule>

High school athletes, including Arizona-bound Jada Williams, bank big endorsement bucks

The senior at La Jolla Country Day School has signed to play at the University of Arizona.

Passion drove future Wildcat, 'natural born leader' Jada Williams to commit to Wildcats

In November, the point guard officially became a member of the Arizona Wildcats' three-person recruiting class of 2023.