Two Penn State University athletes have landed Name-Image-Likeness deals with WWE through its “Next In Line” program.
WWE said this is its third class of 15 college athletes to join the program. This class includes Penn State athletes, two-time NCAA All-American wrestler Greg Kerkvliet and Nick Dawkins, a lineman for the Nittany Lions football team and son of the late NBA star Daryl Dawkins.
The class also includes Alexandra Jaksec, a tennis player at Mary Washington, from Pittsburgh; Mady Aulbach, Youngstown State basketball player from Slippery Rock; and Otoniel Badjana, a track and field athlete at the University of Pittsburgh, who is from Lisbon, Portugal.
WWE said it has signed 46 college athletes to the Next In Line roster since it started in December 2021. The first to sign was Olympic gold medalist wrestler Gable Steveson.
Next In Line, WWE said, “serves to recruit and develop potential future Superstars and further enhances WWE’s talent development process through collaborative partnerships with college athletes from diverse athletic backgrounds.”
The athletes have access to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, as well as “resources across the organization including brand building, media training, communications, live event promotion, creative writing and community relations. Upon completion of the NIL program, select athletes may earn an exclusive opportunity to be offered a WWE contract.”
