Morningside’s Madison Clayton, USD’s Brooklyn Bollweg become first Siouxland athletes to lock in endorsements

Story courtesy of Sioux City Journal

Brooklyn Bollweg and Madison Clayton didn’t wait long to take advantage of the Name, Image and Likeness agreement late Friday night.

Bollweg and Clayton both signed endorsement deals with Silverstar Car Wash, becoming the first known Siouxland student-athletes to make revenue while competing at the collegiate level.

Clayton became Iowa’s first female student-athlete to earn a sponsorship.

Bollweg plays volleyball for the University of South Dakota, while Clayton, a West High School graduate, plays basketball at Morningside University.

Clayton will be part of a solid senior class for the Mustangs this upcoming season. She played in 22 of the 32 games, all off the bench.

She had 34 points and 18 assists total on the season.

Clayton was excited when she was contacted by Silverstar to create content for the car wash company.

“I am thrilled to be part of history with this content agreement with Silverstar,” said Clayton. “I think it’s great to have a local company appreciate the work and effort of Iowa student-athletes. As the first Iowa student-athlete to benefit from this Supreme Court ruling is a special memory I will always have from my time at Morningside.

“I understand the sacrifices of the many Siouxland athletes that played a role for this historic action,” Clayton added.

Students who play at the NAIA level can get in on the action, just like NCAA students, like Bollweg.

The NAIA back in October became the first collegiate athletics organization to green-light any type of legislation.

Just like the NCAA, the NAIA legislation allows a student-athlete to receive compensation for promoting any commercial product, enterprise, or for any public or media appearance.

The Supreme Court recently ruled unanimously in favor of NCAA student-athletes.

Bollweg was surprised to become the first South Dakota athlete to earn an NIL agreement.

The process was a fast one, according to the Coyotes defensive specialist from Sioux Falls.

She received a direct message from Nate Burdine on Friday afternoon, and she wasn’t sure what was coming next.

Bollweg wanted more details about the situation, so she gave Burdine her number back.

A little bit later, Jolene Loetscher of MudMile Communications contacted Bollweg and walked her through what the endorsement was all about.

Bollweg then made sure it was OK with the USD compliance office, since South Dakota is one of the states yet to pass legislation on Name, Image, Likeness.

“I think our compliance office has been anticipating this for months. They gave us a warning before it came. We had a meeting and they talked about finding companies we think we would align with.”

A few hours later Friday, Bollweg signed a contract with Silverstar, officially becoming a spokeswoman for the car wash.

Bollweg and her family who live in Sioux Falls had a membership with Silverstar.

“I definitely think that the urgency of it all surprised me,” Bollweg said. “At first, I was skeptical. I wasn’t really going out of my way looking for endorsements. For them to ask me out of all the athletes in South Dakota, I was taken aback.

“I think it’s cool that we can pick and choose what companies we want to promote,” Bollweg added.

The Coyotes’ volleyball season isn’t too far away. The Summit League opener is Sept. 25 at home against South Dakota State.