lunch, caitlin clark

2 | nike

I only held a few worries when I decided to transfer to Iowa.

1. Leaving my best friends and new family.
2. That Paige would kill me for leaving.
3. If my game would transfer.
4. Would my Nike deal still stand, or would they decide that since I'm no longer at UConn that I'm not worth it anymore.

And if you want me to be totally honest with you, number 4 is a big one. I have a call at any moment to talk with Nike about it. Why I'm getting the call and not my manager is something I have yet to figure out.

I'm in my shared room with P and I made her sit with me while I took the call. Look, this shoe deal might not seem like a big thing to others, but it's huge for me. We see the phone light up and start buzzing but I can't seem to make myself grab it. Paige squeezes my hand in encouragement and I take a deep breath before answering.

We're on the phone for 5 minutes max but I keep my expression blank the whole time and answer shortly from my anxiety.

"So..."

"Well, uh..." I just trail off because I'm still in shock with the turn of events.

"Oh no. It's okay. You can make Nike hate themselves for passing on this. You're amazing Willow."

"No, uh. I got a shoe deal. But they also wanted to start an Iowa and UConn merch line with my number on it."

I hear her squeal-a sound she's never made before-and pulls me up to hug me.

"Not only that though. There's more."

"How is there more? This is amazing! I'm so proud of you right now."

I just pull her back in and squeeze her harder. If I ever need a hype woman, it's Paige. She's the best thing that happened to me at UConn. If we both go to the W, then we better be on the same team.

"My manager did a little talking before this to Nike, and had two other thoughts that could add onto my deal. One is that I have my own athletic line.

The basics like sweats, basketball shorts, and that type of stuff you know? And uh, you don't have to do this if you don't want to okay?

But, she suggested that you be apart of a little bit in my deal. By getting my shoe with a custom #5 on it and sweats like that too. To show that even though I'm leaving UConn, I'm not really leaving.

Again though, if you don't want to do this that's totally fine." I nervously bite my lip and look down at her a little. We're basically the same height but there are moments when I realize our difference.

"GET OUT OF HERE BRO" She literally shoves me down and runs around the room like a crazy person. I pull out my phone to record her and just cackle. Not my most attractive moment.

"OF COURSE ID LOVE THAT. HOLY SHIT I LOVE YOU WILL. NO WAY." As she yells this she's still running. Man, I wish Nika was here to see this.

This deal is so cool to me. And it was special before it was more than just a shoe. I get all the designing of the shoe and can basically do anything I want. Actually, I made my design the second they even thought about choosing me.

I shoot a text to my manager and tell her Paige is on board. Since I've thought about transferring school, my shoe design changed a little. I wanted to wear something that was me, but also had the school colors of UConn and Iowa.

The swooshes are different on watch foot. One representing Iowa in yellow, and the other representing UConn in blue.

Paige probably doesn't know that I'm gonna do this. But I'm totally buying her sweats that have a #5 on them and her shoes. She's 'My Girl'. She'll always be that to me.