Hopkins star Paige Bueckers is already a millionaire before suiting up in the WNBA

Minnesota’s own Paige Bueckers is joining the big leagues, but the big bucks won’t come from her employer.

A week after winning a national title with the University of Connecticut, the Dallas Wings selected Bueckers No. 1 overall in Monday’s WNBA draft.

The Hopkins High School grad will make about $79,000 in her rookie season, according to the league’s contract. But she’s already a millionaire.

Bueckers made $1.4 million in name, image, likeness (NIL) deals during her final college season, according to sports media site On3. That includes deals with Nike, Bose, Gatorade and others. She was the first NIL-era college athlete to design a shoe with Nike.

As a pro, the sponsorship money will likely keep flowing.

Caitlin Clark, last year’s No. 1 draft pick, inked a $28 million deal with Nike. Las Vegas Aces MVP A’Ja Wilson also has a rich signature shoe deal, the value of which has not been disclosed.

As of last year, Bueckers was the world’s 16th “most-marketable” sports star, according to Sports Pro.

Bueckers is also reportedly joining the 3-on-3 Unrivaled league on a three-year contract. This provides WNBA players a domestic option to play and earn money in the offseason rather than traveling to participate in more lucrative foreign leagues. Unrivaled players earn an average of $220,000 annually.

The current WNBA contract expires in October, and players opted out of the final year of the contract. Salaries should rise in the next contract after the league signed an 11-year, $2.2 billion TV and streaming deal last summer. By contrast, the NBA has a season twice as long as the WNBA and a new media rights deal of $76 billion that fuel minimum salaries of more than $1 million.

According to Sportac, Bueckers will make just shy of $350,000 through her first four years in the league if Dallas picks up the fourth-year option on her contract.

This story contains material from the Associated Press.