DJ Burns, Women’s Stars Lead March Madness Social Growth
March Madness provides college athletes with an opportunity to create lifelong memories with their teammates, but it doesn’t currently offer them the chance to earn money directly from their on-court performance. It does, however, give them a chance to blow up on social media, which can in turn lead to lucrative NIL deals and endorsements.
This year’s NCAA Tournaments featured plenty of social media stars, from players on Cinderellas that won just a single round to members of superteams that made it all the way to the finals. Below are the athletes who we hope, for their sake, turned off notifications at some point during March Madness.
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DJ Burns Jr.
NC State big man Burns emerged as the biggest social media winner. His unique physique and playing style caught attention as he led the No. 11 seed Wolfpack 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.
Jack Gohlke
Gohlke’s team only notched one win, but that was all he needed to become a borderline celebrity. Gohlke led No. 14 Oakland over No. 3 Kentucky in the biggest first-round upset of 2024 by making 10 of 20 3-pointers. 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 day after his epic breakout performance, Gohlke had already secured an endorsement deal with TurboTax.
Paige Bueckers and Jared McCain
You don’t need to break tournament records or have one shining moment to gain followers on social media. Coming into March Madness as a star and making a deep run is typically enough.
UConn’s Bueckers averaged 28 points per game over her team’s first four March Madness games and gained 359,000 Instagram followers over the course of the tournament, the second-biggest increase of any player, bringing her total to 1.43 million.
Directly behind Bueckers on that Instagram follower growth ranking is Duke’s McCain, who already had 758,000 in mid-March due to his viral TikTok videos earlier in the season. He surpassed the 1 million follower milestone after his No. 4 seeded Blue Devils reached the Elite Eight.
Caitlin Clark
The biggest follower growth belongs to none other than Clark, who gained 682,000 Instagram followers over the past two weeks and change, giving her more than 1.8 million overall. That’s on top of averaging 30 points, 8.7 assists and 7.7 rebounds during the tournament, leading Iowa to the title game and breaking countless NCAA records.
Women’s Finalists
In part due to Clark, a record 18.7 million viewers tuned in to the South Carolina-Iowa final, more than any other basketball game, period, since 2019. Players on both teams saw massive boosts 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.
Clark’s teammates at Iowa got even more dramatic bumps in the past several days. 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.
"I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said after her team’s championship win on Sunday. The effect to which Staley’s referring can be seen on social media.
More March Madness stories:
–UConn Hoops Spending Pays Off With Second Straight Title
–Final Four Coaches Find Experience Pays Off: Data Viz
–NC State Booster Club, NIL Collective Riding Final Four Gravy Train
–WNBA Has Big Plans to Ride Women’s Basketball Momentum
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