After their introduction, Swoopes looked at what Kortovich and ACES were offering young players and thought back to when she was seven years old, playing in the Little Dribblers league in Brownfield, Texas. She considered the opportunities in high school and the access to competition. She wished events like the Classic were available to her to make her a better player and boost her confidence. As a Nike athlete, Swoopes said seeing Nike on board—and knowing their longstanding commitment to women’s sports—only compounded her desire to lend a hand.
“When you look at all these NIL deals that these young men and women are getting, why wouldn’t you want to participate and be a part of something like this where you may have an opportunity to play in front of so many different brands?” Swoopes said. “It just shows the support these brands are willing to put out there to support these young women.”
The veteran mentality
Kortovich said the basketball landscape has “changed 1,000%” since he and Swoopes were still playing. Likewise, Swoopes noted that she and Nike were hoping that a signature shoe would open the door for other women in the game, but didn’t consider it an immediate victory—nor the foundation for other opportunities at the time.
“After the success of my first shoe or second shoe, I think that’s when other brands kind of took a look and said, ‘Oh, Nike may have something here. We want to be a part of it,’” Swoopes said. “That was back then, and when you look at what’s going on today, these young women, it’s not just their talent—everything that they’re capable of off the court, there’s something interesting and exciting about them … brands want to associate themselves with you.”
In the five years that the ACES Elite Classic has hosted a women’s event, its players’ profiles have increased significantly. ACES alums Emily Engstler (Washington Mystics), Maddy Siegrist (Dallas Wings) and Celeste Taylor (Indiana Fever) have all made a presence for themselves in the WNBA. Notre Dame freshman Hannah Hidalgo and University of Connecticut junior Azzi Fudd were among the women’s college players who came through the Classic before helping their teams to March Madness. Meanwhile, numerous McDonald’s All-American players have returned for the event before making their collegiate and professional debuts.