The NIL world moves fast these days. On Sunday, Dawn Staley told a story about Raven Johnson, and by Wednesday, Johnson had an NIL sponsorship.
Staley has endorsed the insurance company Aflac since 2022. She first appeared in commercials with former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, and has later appeared in her own commercials with the Aflac Duck.
Aflac also sponsored South Carolina’s Oui-Play game in Paris to open the 2023-24 season, and Staley has partnered with the company to “confront equity issues in women’s college basketball head-on” as well as visit with sick children in the hospital (the necklaces Staley wears are the product of one of those visits).
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When Aflac first approached Staley about appearing in commercials, Staley’s only requirement was that she get all the same perks as Krzyzewski. Aflac agreed, and after Krzyzewski retired, Staley became the focus of the commercials that run during the basketball season.
So when Staley joked to her players during the first round of the tournament that the reason timeouts are longer in the tournament is that players are getting paid now.
“I told them that they’re 30 extra seconds on these timeouts,” Staley said. “I said (it’s) because y’all make so much NIL money.”
Senior point guard Raven Johnson wasn’t going to let her coach, the one who might actually be appearing in that extra commercial, off the hook.
“Raven got up from her seat, came over to me, and said, ‘Aflac,’ and walked away,” Staley said. “I mean, where did she come up with it? She is quick with it.”
The joke went viral, and the Aflac account on X, formerly known as Twitter, tagged Staley and said, “Tell Raven to call me.”
“Hide the Duck first, please,” Staley replied.
The next day, Monday, Johnson was asked if an NIL deal with Aflac was in the works.
“With the duck? The duck doesn’t even speak English, right? I don’t know,” she said. After Staley reminded Johnson that the duck says “Aflac,” Johnson replied, “I know, but that’s it. That’s all I know. Are we teaming up? Oh, yeah, sure. If (Staley’s) in it, yeah.”
Two days later, it was official.
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Johnson posted pictures of herself wearing a shirt with Aflac’s slogan, posing with a stuffed duck in front of the statue of Dawn Staley in downtown Columbia. “Y’all better ask about it at work….I did and Aflac answered,” was the caption.
Johnson is now the third Gamecock to appear in an Aflac ad. Allisha Gray appeared in a commercial last year after she swept the Skills Challenge and Three-Point Contests at the 2024 WNBA All-Star Weekend. She picked up a $55,000 bonus from Aflac as a result.