After going 20 years without a footprint in the the basketball space, Puma is continuing its push to be a major player in the sport with the signing of two of the top picks in the 2019 WNBA Draft.
Puma announced the signings of No. 1 overall pick Jackie Young, taken by the Las Vegas Aces, and No. 4 overall pick Katie Lou Samuelson, selected by the Chicago Sky, to endorsement deals. Young played her college career at Notre Dame, while Samuelson played at UConn.
Puma made a big splash in the NBA by inking last year’s No. 1 pick DeAndre Ayton, then signing other marquee names like DeMarcus Cousins, Marvin Bagley III, Michael Porter Jr., and Danny Green. They also snagged WNBA star Skylar Diggins-Smith.
“We take great pride in being able to add exceptional elite athletes to our PUMA family, and we are honored to add Jackie and Katie Lou to our basketball program,” Adam Petrick, Puma’s global director of brand and marketing, said in a release. “As important partners, they will play a role in helping us to shape our involvement in both the league and the sport overall. This is a great day for our brand.”
In an interview with ESPN, Young said Diggins-Smith’s partnership with the brand helped convince her to make the move.
“With Skylar and a few NBA players, you could just tell that [Puma is] really getting out there in the basketball world and just being more noticed,” Young said. “Being from Indiana and going to Notre Dame, I looked up to her as I got older and as I was growing up.”
Puma’s Clyde Court Disrupt shoe dropped in October of 2018, and was a fixture on the feet in multiple colorways of the aforementioned athletes this past season.
