Sunday night saw the official end to Zion Williamson's short-lived college career, as his Duke Blue Devils fell to the Michigan State Spartans, 68-67, in the Elite 8 round of this season's NCAA tournament.
Despite the disappointing end to his season, however, Williamson still remains to be one of the biggest names coming into the 2019 NBA Draft. So much so that according to a recent report, the 18-year-old is expected to sign one of the most massive rookie-scale shoe deals of all-time.
This is via Nick Depaula of ESPN:
In fact, many in the sneaker industry expect that Williamson's eventual deal will make him one of the three highest-paid rookie sneaker endorsers ever, joining the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
Zion's love affair with Nike is well-documented, with the consensus first overall pick the center of the infamous exploding shoe incident during Duke's matchup against UNC back in February. However, despite suffering a minor injury because of the unforeseen incident, Williamson remained faithful to the brand, deciding to still rock Nike's upon his return to the court.
Nonetheless, this does not by any means guarantee that Zion will end up signing with Nike. Brands like Adidas and Under Armour will surely want to have their say, and will likely participate in a highly-competitive and highly-lucrative bidding war.
Williamson ends his college career with an average of 22.6 points (on 68.0 percent shooting), 0.7 three-pointers, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.8 blocks in 33 appearances for the Blue Devils.
Follow Us
Subscribe