This Week in Women’s Basketball: Caitlin Clark, Haley Jones, Juju Watkins sign NIL deals with Nike

Here’s what happened in the world of women’s basketball this past week:

Caitlin Clark, Haley Jones, Juju Watkins sign NIL deals with Nike

Nike handed out five NIL deals recently and three of them went to women’s basketball players: Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes, Haley Jones of the Stanford Cardinal and Juju Watkins of Sierra Canyon High School in Chatsworth, Calif. Watkins is the No. 2 Hoop Gurlz recruit in the class of 2023 and is undecided about where she will play in college. LeBron James’ son, Bronny James, also plays basketball at Sierra Canyon and he too received an NIL deal from Nike, as did fellow men’s player D.J. Wagner (Camden, N.J.).

Rebecca Allen played through two fractured ribs and a partially collapsed lung

Allen, of Australia and the New York Liberty, left the third game of World Cup group play with a rib injury. She was diagnosed at the time as having “no apparent structural damage.” She went on to play 14 minutes in Australia’s semifinal game against China before it was revealed that she actually had two fractured ribs and a partially collapsed lung.

Allen, who is currently playing for Valencia Basket Club, will sit out the next two months.

Natisha Hiedeman to work at Penn State

The Connecticut Sun guard is the new director of player development for the Nittany Lions’ women’s basketball program, joining forces with her former college head coach at Marquette and current Penn State head coach Carolyn Kieger.