Paige Bueckers, #5 of the UConn Huskies, shoots the ball within the second half during the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal game towards the Iowa Hawkeyes at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 5, 2024.Steph Chambers | Getty ImagesUniversity of Connecticut star Paige Bueckers will sign a identify, picture and likeness deal with the brand new ladies’s basketball league Unrivaled, people acquainted with the matter advised CNBC.The settlement is believed to make her the primary NCAA athlete to obtain an possession stake in a skilled sports league, as more lax endorsement guidelines permit school gamers to search more endorsement and business alternatives. Terms of the deal weren’t out there.Unrivaled was based final yr by Women’s National Basketball Association gamers Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty and Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx. The league will kick off in January forward of the WNBA season.The two-time NCAA All-American Bueckers will doubtless be seen in selling the league, however is not going to play till she finishes her school profession at UConn, the people mentioned. In February, Bueckers introduced she would forgo the 2024 WNBA Draft to return to UConn for her senior season.Unrivaled was began as a method to permit WNBA basketball gamers the option to play within the U.S. during their offseason. Previously, many gamers had to go abroad to complement their WNBA salaries.The player-owned league offers equity stakes to all 30 gamers, and no one will make below six figures. Current WNBA max salaries high out roughly round $250,000 per season.The league will consist of six groups, competing 3 on 3 in full-court play. Players up to now introduced within the league embrace Stewart, Collier, Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces and Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings. Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky was the primary participant from this yr’s WNBA rookie class to be a part of the league.The star-studded checklist of buyers within the league embrace Bueckers’ UConn head coach Geno Auriemma; former National Basketball Association gamers Carmelo Anthony and Steve Nash; former and present soccer stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe; media executives John Skipper and David Levy; and actor Ashton Kutcher.Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO