South Carolina Basketball (Women's)

Fresh off winning a national championship, players for the South Carolina women's basketball team can make $25,000 each for the 2022-23 season through a name, image and likeness deal.

According to a release from NOCAP Sports, the deal was orchestrated by South Carolina NIL collective Garnet Trust and NOCAP Sports and is funded by former South Carolina State Rep. Bakari Sellers and a group of prominent alumni.

Sellers issued a statement about the deal included in the release:

"The South Carolina community and alumni network are proud to support the reigning national champs as they continue to build the best program in the country. NIL has created an awesome opportunity for these athletes to earn what they have always deserved, and we are excited to continue to support this team for years to come."

As part of the deal, individual members of the team will be responsible for "various deliverables that involve community appearances, social media engagement, sponsored interviews, and other marketing and communications endeavors."

A website has also been set up by Garnet Trust that allows fans to sign up for a membership and receive special perks, including messages from Gamecocks student-athletes in Trust-sponsored interviews, the opportunity to submit questions for athlete interviews and a monthly newsletter featuring a message from one of the athletes.

Per Emily Adams of the Greenville News, the total value of the NIL deal for all 13 players on South Carolina's roster is approximately $325,000.

Aliyah Boston, the reigning Naismith Women's College Player of the Year, and Zia Cooke were already poised to cash in on their talent. Boston has multiple NIL deals in the bag, including with Crocs, Under Armour and Octagon Basketball.

Cooke has deals with H&R Block and Bojangles.

South Carolina won its second national title last season. Head coach Dawn Staley led her team to a 35-2 overall record, an SEC regular-season championship and a 64-49 victory over Connecticut in the NCAA tournament championship game.

A heartbreaking finish capped Stanford's 66-65 win over South Carolina in the Final Four of the NCAA Division I women's college basketball tournament on Friday in San Antonio.

South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston stole the ball from Stanford forward Cameron Brink with the Cardinal up one and seven seconds remaining.

The ball found its way to South Carolina guard Brea Beal, who missed a running layup with a couple seconds left.

Boston then flew in for the rebound and got a game-winning shot attempt before the buzzer, but the ball bounced off the back rim and onto the floor.

Before the sequence, South Carolina guard Destanni Henderson went on a personal 6-0 run to turn a 64-59 deficit into a 65-64 lead. Stanford guard Haley Jones (24 points on 11-of-14 shooting) responded by grabbing an offensive rebound and nailing a baseline jumper with 32 seconds left for the 66-65 edge.

Stanford got a stop on the other end, forcing South Carolina to play the foul game in hopes of putting the Cardinal on the line, but Boston got the steal instead, leading to the end.

South Carolina isn't getting as far as it did without Boston, who was named one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, given to the best women's and men's collegiate basketball players.

The sophomore entered Friday averaging 13.8 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game for a 26-win South Carolina team. Boston was also phenomenal again in the Final Four, posting 11 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks.

And obviously, South Carolina would have had a much harder time putting itself in position for the win if not for Boston's game-ending defense.

As for Beal, the sophomore has been excellent on the boards, averaging 7.4 for the tournament. She also led South Carolina with three steals on Friday.

After the game, Las Vegas Aces star, WNBA MVP and ex-South Carolina standout A'ja Wilson tweeted the following:

As for Stanford, the Cardinal will advance to the national championship to face Arizona.