Exclusive: Sheryl Swoopes and Nike Assist Women’s Hoop Dreams at ACES Elite Classic

Sheryl Swoopes won an NCAA championship, three Olympic gold medals and four WNBA championships, but the star isn’t planning to rest on any laurels. Off-court business and marketing opportunities in women’s basketball are growing. Swoopes is helping to drive that even more, hosting the ACES Elite Classic All-American high school women’s game this week.

As the ACES Elite Classic hosts its men’s and women’s events on May 22 at Gaucho’s Gym in the Bronx, it enters its fifth year of both showcasing top high school basketball players and allowing them to interact with representatives from Google Pixel, Jordan Brand and Swoopes’ longtime supporters at Nike—the event’s official uniform and footwear partner. Founded by international basketball player, NBA D-League draftee, New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets tryout, and, eventually, Rucker Park Entertainers League scoring champion Brian Kortovich (aka Smokin’ Aces), ACES teamed with Swoopes to build on the event, apparel, media and social channels its sports-and-culture platform offers young players.

“It’s special to be able to give back and have these kids be seen on the media side, on the streaming side and also the business side,” Kortovich said. “That’s why these kids are coming, because of NIL opportunities as well: If we can put them in the same room and have them get additional opportunities off the court, that’s where this game is heading.”

Related video

Deloitte predicts that revenue generated by women’s elite sports will hit $1.28 billion this year—surpassing $1 billion for the first time. A joint 2023 study by RBC and Wasserman’s women-focused practice, The Collective, found that 54% of women’s sports fans are more aware of sponsors than fans of men’s sports, while 45% are more willing to consider purchasing from sponsor brands.

And Swoopes knows how to navigate the brand space.

Now an announcer for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, Swoopes’ on-court experience landed her in the Basketball Hall of Fame, leading to her coaching at Loyola-Chicago and her alma mater Texas Tech. But her Nike Air Swoopes—the first signature shoe in women’s basketball history that yielded seven editions from 1995 through 2001—foreshadowed the current women’s basketball economy.

“When I was in college, it wasn’t what it is today—I was just so thrilled and excited that a brand like Nike saw something in me that they were willing to put dollars behind me and give me my own shoe,” Swoopes said. “That, in itself, was pressure: Not the money part, but a brand taking a chance on little old me from a very small town … that’s pressure for me to perform, to continue to do the things that made them interested in me in the beginning.”

Connections yield connections

Swoopes has extensive experience visiting and holding basketball camps and clinics and speaking at basketball events “because that’s what we need to do, that’s what I was supposed to be a part of.” However, Gina Paradiso, chief content officer and Swoopes’ agent at LIFT Sports Management convinced Swoopes to participate in the ACES Elite Classic based on their conversations about Swoopes’ vision for girls and women in sports.

“It’s always important that girls feel like they matter, but they also feel like they have every opportunity to succeed as their male counterparts,” Swoopes said. “Growing up, the opportunities that I had as a girl in basketball were few and far between, and I just think when you look at where the game is today, the excitement around it, this movement we’re having, it’s such a great time to be involved.”

Paradiso also had the ear of Kortovich, whom she’d met several years prior as a talent strategist who’d helped him plan one of ACES’ first celebrity games in Los Angeles at what was then the Staples Center. 

“Even during Covid, she was like, ‘You’ve got to do a bigger push for women,’” Kortovich said. “So we did some stuff [in Los Angeles], we did some stuff with [two-time WNBA champion] A’ja [Wilson] in the bubble, we did some stuff with Sue Bird and just and then when I heard she was working with Sheryll over the holidays, she’s like, ‘Yo B, I might have something for you.’” 

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.

Bringing those players in requires a strong brand presence, often with pressure.

“It’s pressure to perform in a good way with Nike because It’s not every day you get a chance to partner with the best brand in the world,” Kortovich said. “Year after year, we have to make sure that we go above and beyond—whether I have to put my own capital up or sacrifice other things to make sure we’re putting the best product out there that relates to the players, the branding, the marketing and the design.” 

But investment in the women’s game and access pay on the ACES Elite Classic’s alum list and in the relationships it can forge. Swoopes isn’t just stamping her brand on the sports marketing event: She’s behind it every bit as much as she was behind Air Swoopes.

“It’s important for me that I’m very involved and very hands-on,” she said. “I don’t just put my name on something and not be a part of it. It also has to be something that I believe in,”