Minnesota high school recruits weigh NIL opportunities in college decisions

Several young women with Minnesota connections are now, in the wake of Caitlin Clark Mania, in the NIL spotlight in women's college sports. Hopkins grad Paige Bueckers is one of the faces of college basketball, with NIL earning power north of $5 million, according to the sports website On3, a tracker of NIL data and potential. That site had current freshmen Liv McGill, also of Hopkins and now at Florida, and Benilde-St. Margaret's grad Olivia Olson, now at Michigan, in its top 25 ranking of NIL earning potential last year for girls high school basketball.

Olivia Hammer of New Ulm, shown at the 2022 Final Four at Target Center, is one of the many Paige Bueckers fans. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune) On3 also estimates Greenway's endorsement potential ranked No. 7 of all girls basketball players nationally. Five-star senior Aaliyah Crump, who transferred this summer from Minnetonka to Montverde Academy in Florida, is No. 11. Crump became the first high school athlete to ink an NIL with New Balance's Klutch Athletics last year and is expected to sign with Texas on Wednesday.

Greenway, 17, moves from a soccer season that ended with a Providence Academy state championship to the gym. The dynamic 5-8 guard will pursue another state basketball title, and her 40,000-plus social media followers will journey alongside her. The social-media side and brand-building work can easily eat up more time and energy than it should for these talented teenagers.

"As a parent going through it, there's a lot of challenges and a lot of conversations," Chad said. "This doesn't consume everything they're doing. That's one way we try to keep things in perspective. To have some semblance of a normal high school experience."

Greenway, who recently cut the list of finalists for her college decisions to Clemson, Duke, Iowa, Kentucky, Stanford and UCLA and could announce a commitment soon, has NIL opportunities in her sights, but it's not her family's primary focus.

"You see a lot of athletes doing their own NIL deals and marketing deals," Chad said. "I don't think that's going away anytime soon. You can just see it accelerating with some of these really good players. But I don't think you ever make decisions on going to a school based off that. ... You really want to make the decisions off relationships and people."

Jayden Moore of Hopkins throws down a dunk earlier this month in fall-league basketball. (Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune) State of Hockey Mason West's successful run this fall of tossing touchdown passes for Edina recently came to an end, with the Hornets' loss Thursday night to Maple Grove, and he'll be back on the ice soon anchoring the front line for the defending Class 2A state hockey champions.

The 6-6, 205-pound junior quarterback has seen his recruitment pick up in football. His offers from Kent State, Marshall and Miami (Ohio) now include interest from Maryland.

"It's harder to get noticed in Minnesota because hockey kind of takes over a little bit," West said. "I've gotten more looks, which has persuaded me into maybe wanting to play football."

A skilled forward who joined Gophers hockey commits Mason Moe and Carter Casey on the Team USA U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup roster, West has some idea when he'll pick the sport he plays in college.

"I'm just focusing on my junior year and will probably make a decision after that," he said. "Right now, I'm trying to get the best development I can in both sports."

College football is in another stratosphere with NIL compared to most sports, but hockey is gaining momentum. Dinkytown Athletes, the Gophers' NIL collective, worked during last year's Frozen Four to help lure players back to the Gophers, including star forward Jimmy Snuggerud.