- Nike Basketball and WNBA legend Diana Taurasi launched the first-ever Taurasi Edge Program, a two-day training intensive at the Nike Sport Research Lab.
- Seven athletes made the inaugural class: JuJu Watkins, Madison Booker, Jazzy Davidson, Aaliyah Chavez, Syla Swords, Bella Hines, and incoming freshman Jerzy Robinson.
- Watkins headlines the group after averaging 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game before missing the 2025-26 season with an ACL injury.
- The program pairs Taurasi's mentorship with Nike's ongoing push to build out women's basketball's next NIL-era stars.
Nike Basketball and Diana Taurasi have introduced something new to women’s college hoops: the Taurasi Edge Program, a two-day, one-on-one training session at the Nike Sport Research Lab. Seven standouts made the inaugural class, and JuJu Watkins tops the list by a wide margin.
Watkins is coming off a redshirt season following ACL surgery but posted 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game the year before.
She’s no stranger to Nike either; the two recently teamed up on the co-designed LeBron NXXT GEN “By JuJu” collection, adding to a portfolio that already includes AT&T, Celsius, Chipotle, NYX Professional Makeup, and a joint Gatorade campaign with Luka Dončić.
Madison Booker joins her after a breakout junior year at Texas: 18.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, and a career-high 40-point outburst against Oregon in March Madness. Booker also became the first Longhorn to sign with Kevin Durant’s Nike-backed apparel line, adding to earlier deals with C4 Energy and Keurig.
Rounding out the class: USC’s Jazzy Davidson, Oklahoma’s Aaliyah Chavez, Michigan’s Syla Swords, TCU transfer Bella Hines, and five-star South Carolina signee Jerzy Robinson, the only player yet to play a college minute.
For Taurasi, it’s a full-circle moment. She’s been vocal about Watkins as her heir apparent, and Nike has kept building its women’s basketball roster. The brand also backed Taurasi and UConn on the Greenies dog health campaign.
Takeaways
Nike didn’t just pick seven talented players; it picked a bet on the future of the entire sport. Watkins as the headline name, signals the brand sees her as the face of the post-Clark, post-Bueckers era, even coming off a major injury.
And putting Taurasi in the mentor seat is smart brand-building: she’s the connective tissue between the league’s old guard and its next wave.
Does mentorship access like this become the new differentiator in recruiting top prospects to Nike over Adidas or Under Armour? How much does Watkins’ endorsement value shift once she’s back on the court full-time? Is Taurasi building the next chapter of her post-playing career as a talent developer and brand ambassador simultaneously?
