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USC Star Kiki Iriafen Makes NIL History

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Brendan Howe | Last updated Apr 3, 2025 5:30 AM ET

Kiki Iriafen was a key piece of the USC Trojans' Elite Eight women's basketball crew this season. She averaged 18.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game and earned a first-team All-Big Ten nod. As she gears up for the WNBA Draft, she's announced a business venture with Skechers.

"BREAKING: Skechers has signed Kiki Iriafen — USC star and 2025 WNBA Draft top prospect — to a shoe deal," shoe connoisseur Nick DePaula wrote Wednesday on X. "Iriafen will help headline the SKX Nexus model as she begins her WNBA career."

Iriafen becomes the company's first-ever collegiate athlete signing. She's the second woman to partner with and endorse Sketchers, joining Los Angeles Sparks forward Rickea Jackson. The SKX Nexus shoe she'll be wearing on the court as a professional, with its hot pink colorway, will be available for fans to buy on April 15.

“This partnership is about more than just basketball," Iriafen said in a statement. "Skechers understands who I am on and off the court and what I need to be at my best. I love that the brand is based in L.A. and has the global reach to help me inspire and impact more female athletes worldwide to pursue their dreams.

"Skechers does comfort better than any other brand I’ve experienced, which gives me confidence to have them as my teammate as I enter into this next chapter of my life.”

Other Skechers athletes include NBA players Joel Embiid, Jabari Walker, Julius Randle, Terrance Mann, Norman Powell, and Josh Green.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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