{"id":505343,"date":"2026-03-05T14:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/505343\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T14:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:04:10","slug":"monique-billings-on-her-silk-big-10-partnership-the-rise-of-womens-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/505343\/","title":{"rendered":"Monique Billings On Her Silk Big 10 Partnership & The Rise Of Women’s Basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monique Billings has had a front-row seat to one of the most transformative eras in women\u2019s basketball<\/a> to date. With almost a decade in the WNBA under her belt, and four years of college basketball before that, Billings has seen the sport go from modest public attention and sparse endorsement opportunities to sold-out arenas, national media coverage, and high-profile brand deals. Now, the Golden State Valkyries forward finds herself reflecting on the sport\u2019s explosive growth and celebrating the next generation of rising talent.<\/p>\n

As part of her partnership with Silk Protein, the official plant-based beverage brand of the Big Ten Conference<\/a>, Billings is heading to some Big Ten basketball games this March Madness season (and she gets to throw it back to her own college basketball days by creating a smoothie that honors her alma mater). The partnership is a full-circle moment for Billings, who was part of the Big Ten (then known as the Pac-12) in her own college days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From 2014-2018, Billings was a standout college athlete for UCLA women\u2019s basketball, helping the Bruins reach impressive records and tournament runs. (To this day, she retains the title of UCLA women\u2019s basketball\u2019s all-time leader in blocked shots.) Now, she gets to champion a new class of college players\u00a0<\/p>\n

Below, Her Campus chats with Billings about the evolution of women\u2019s basketball, how this generation of college women athletes are redefining the game, and how she\u2019s here for it all.<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve partnered with Silk Protein as the official plant-based beverage brand of the Big Ten. What made this collaboration feel authentic to you?<\/p>\n

For me, it goes back to when I was a young girl. Silk was at my grandmother\u2019s house, it was something that I had as a child, that I\u2019ve always been around. So when the opportunity came about, I was like, this is so aligned. I love Silk Protein [and] I\u2019m always looking for ways to get protein into my diet. I\u2019m in my ninth season as a pro [and] the older I get, the more I\u2019m watching what I consume and trying to be super mindful about all of those things.<\/p>\n

How do your current wellness and nutrition habits compare to those from your college days?<\/p>\n

I got really lucky and really blessed because my dad was a very mindful person when it came to just living holistically \u2014 mind, body, spirit. When I was younger in college, I would say I probably ate out a lot more, and I could get away with that. I wasn\u2019t being as intentional with those things. Now, as I\u2019m approaching 30, nine years as a professional athlete, I\u2019m looking at all those things, trying to buy plant-based as much as I can, even going to farms, getting fruits, vegetables, different meats, and wanting things that are locally sourced. Thankfully, I\u2019m still able to eat what I want. I have a really good metabolism, I work hard, so I think I have a good balance of both.<\/p>\n

You played in the Big Ten, what was then the Pac-12, during a pivotal era. From your perspective, what has changed the most in college basketball between now and then?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think what\u2019s changed the most is the amount of coverage that these kids are getting. Obviously, you have NIL<\/a> \u2014 that is something that I wish I could have done in college, and that\u2019s a game-changer. Then again, social media \u2014 it was big when I was in college, but it\u2019s so much bigger now, and these young college kids are able to amplify their stories, their voices, through their own platforms. That was something I was trying to do when I was in college. I started a YouTube channel, but again, we didn\u2019t have NIL at that time so I had to be super careful about what I was promoting or how I was saying certain things. A partnership such as Silk, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to have when I\u2019m in college, but now college kids are able to have those types of opportunities.<\/p>\n

What do you think is driving this surge in visibility and support for women\u2019s basketball, on both the college and professional level?<\/p>\n

Women basketball players continue to evolve. Our game continues to evolve. I also think you talk about media coverage \u2014\u00a0fans being able to attach to people\u2019s stories and kind of see themselves in different individuals. I think that is so important. It\u2019s just exciting thinking about what the future looks like, because 10 years ago, when I was getting into the league, it was nothing like this. I\u2019m excited to see even 10 years from now how it\u2019ll continue to grow and evolve.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re seeing record-breaking attendance, brand deals, and national conversations around women\u2019s sports. As someone who\u2019s been a part of this evolution, where do you think women\u2019s sports go from here?<\/p>\n

I think we [will] continue to move forward. It starts with brands, such as Silk Protein, investing in women, seeing us as more than just athletes, [and] being willing to tell our stories. Even [with] the partnership that I have right now, I\u2019m going to the Big Ten tournament and I\u2019m going to be at those games, being able to interact with not only the fans, but also with the college students who are playing. It\u2019s about brands seeing us as more than athletes, and also the athletes putting out a really good product for brands and fans to want to attach to, and being able to be vulnerable and put out our personal stories and share our platforms. I\u2019m all about positivity. If people are able to get their platform out in a positive way that can inspire people, I think that\u2019s super important and that\u2019s something worth attaching to and worth noticing.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s special to you about this generation of college women athletes?<\/p>\n

I would say the confidence. The confidence that these young players have in college right now is elite. I just love the way that they carry themselves, they know what their worth is, they know what their value is. I know that they have a lot coming at them, whether it be the media they\u2019re having to manage, agents that they\u2019re having to deal with, a lot of brands coming at them, and just different opportunities. I really admire their confidence and how well they\u2019re handling and managing the pressures that come along with it. And it excites me, honestly, seeing that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monique Billings has had a front-row seat to one of the most transformative eras in women\u2019s basketball to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[4553,112871,186,112870,229978,109437,99,434],"class_list":["post-505343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-career","tag-chapternational","tag-exclusive","tag-hc-athletic-club","tag-her-20s","tag-sponsoredno","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}