College players have the opportunity to make lifelong memories with their teammates during March Madness, but it does n’t now give them the opportunity to make money from their on-court appearance. It does, however, offer them a chance to blow up on social media, which is in turn lead to profitable NIL talks and testimonials.
There were plenty of social media stars this year’s NCAA Tournaments, from Cinderellas people who only won one round to people of superteams who made it to the finals. Below are the players who we hope will have turned off messages during March Madness in the hopes that they will.
Burns, a big-money player at NC State, came out as the biggest cultural internet success. As he led the No. 1, his distinctive complexion and playing tone caught interest. Wolfpack, 11 plant, all the way to the Final Four. His Instagram follower count increased from 28, 400 to 245, 000, and he reportedly earned more than$ 100, 000 in NIL deals with brands such as TurboTax, CVS, Barstool Sports and others.

Gohlke’s group just notched one gain, but that was all he needed to become a downright brand. Gohlke led No. 14 Oakland over No. 3 Kentucky in the biggest primary- round disturbed of 2024 by making 10 of 20 3- ideas. His Instagram following grew from 8, 000 to 76, 700, good for the largest percentage increase ( + 854 % ) of any player tracked by Sportico.
Just one evening after his spectacular breakthrough performance, Gohlke had previously secured an support deal with TurboTax.
You do n’t need to break tournament records or have a memorable moment to become popular on social media. Making a strong move and entering March Madness as a star is usually sufficient.
UConn’s Bueckers averaged 28 points per game over her group’s second four March Madness games and gained 359, 000 Instagram followers over the course of the game, the next- biggest boost of any person, bringing her complete to 1.43 million.
Duke’s McCain, who already had 758, 000 Instagram followers in mid-March owing to his popular TikTok video earlier in the season, is directly in the back seat of Bueckers. After reaching the million-follower step, he. The Blue Devils, who have four seeds, made it to the Elite Eight.
The biggest disciple development belongs to none other than Clark, who gained 682, 000 Instagram fans over the past two months and change, giving her more than 1.8 million nevertheless. That’s on top of averaging 30 items, 8.7 aids and 7.7 rebounds during the game, leading Iowa to the subject activity and breaking many NCAA records.
In part due to Clark, a document 18.7 million viewers tuned in to the South Carolina- Iowa last, more than any other sports sport, period, since 2019. Both teams ‘ players saw significant growth in followers.
For the Gamecocks, Kamilla Cardoso’s tally more than doubled from 130, 000 to 294, 000 during the tournament. Raven Johnson, Chloe Kitts, Tessa Johnson and Bree Hall added roughly 58, 000, 48, 000, 35, 000 and 32, 000 each, respectively, from the time their first- round game tipped off to the day after they cut down the nets.
In the past few days, Clark’s Iowa teammates experienced even more dramatic bumps. Gabbie Marshall has added more than 80, 000 followers since the Hawkeyes ‘ semifinal win on Friday to bring her up to 226, 000 followers. Hannah Stuelke’s 115, 000 followers are 52, 000 more than she had just three days ago.
After her team won the championship game on Sunday, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley thanked Caitlin Clark for upholding our sport. On social media, Staley’s reference can be seen in action.
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