Charlotte GibsonMar 18, 2026, 06:45 AM ET
"CAN YOU EVEN name one beer?"
Raegan Beers stood on the practice court at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma, and looked at her teammates and scouting members with bewilderment.
"Isn't there one called COVID?" Beers responded, with an innocent smile across her face.
Her teammates and scouts started laughing. "No, it's Corona!"
The Oklahoma center bashfully quipped, "Ohhh my bad. I don't drink beer. I don't know these things."
It's early January, and Beers had just secured 15 points and 11 rebounds in a 95-47 victory against Mississippi State. The Oklahoma women's basketball X page posted an image of the senior sitting on the bench during the game. In the image, Beers stares out at the court, her Dutch braids perfectly entwined on her head, her head coach Jennie Baranczyk looking in her direction.
But it's the jersey that is front and center that immediately catches the internet's attention: 15 Beers.
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) January 5, 2026Ranging from the indecent to the ridiculous to the hilarious, the post quickly garnered millions of views, thousands of likes, retweets and hundreds of comments. Viral meme pages and social media handles started to pick up the image and posts, too. The general consensus? There was a whole new fan base who wanted to buy Beers' jersey.
As one X user posted: "This jersey might go triple platinum in frats across America."
Beers' jersey and name had fully gone viral.
"When something like that explodes and it's your name and it's your jersey that's exploding, you can't help but kind of, like, be amazed at what the internet can do," Beers said.
In the weeks and months after, the 6-foot-4 Sooner from Littleton, Colorado, became more than just a household name in women's college hoops. She secured her first official NIL jersey deal with Fanatics, and her jersey sales soared within the first month. She brought a new fan base, albeit fraternity brothers, to Sooners games. And she learned the name of a beer. As she navigates her final days of collegiate basketball -- the Sooners open this year's NCAA tournament against Idaho at 10 p.m. ET on Friday -- she hopes that the attention on her team and the game of basketball grows.
BEERS DID NOT realize her name and jersey were going viral. The 22-year-old rarely checks her social media. And on Jan. 5, when the internet was ogling over her jersey, it was no different for Beers.
Being raised in a Christian household with a police officer as a father, Beers and her three siblings were shielded from social media until their senior years of high school. Due to their father's work, according to Beers, the Beers children stayed off social media for all their safety. As a result, the Beers siblings became the outliers for a social-media-savvy generation. They also embraced the fact that despite their last name, the Beers family chooses not to drink for religious reasons.
"It's funny because we never drink," Beers said.
It wasn't until her older brother, Rocky, texted her: "Oh my goodness, you're going viral." For Beers' older brother, it was a full-circle moment to witness his sister's name go viral at the university that he just transferred to for football. The siblings laughed at the timing of the viral photo. "Now, they can get ready for another Beers' jersey, too!" they texted to each other.
"It was comment after comment about drinking beer and wanting to buy my jersey, and of course, how the jersey will become a staple in fraternities," Beers said. "But the funny thing is that for me and my family, this is just our last name. Growing up, people knew me, and us, as the Beers family. Things like this obviously cross our minds, because we know what our last name is. But it's just funny. The family that doesn't drink is the family that goes viral for that."
Before entering college, Beers was the No. 10-ranked player and No. 3 center in the 2022 class by ESPN. She was a McDonald's All American, a Jordan Brand Classic All-American and a Naismith Player of the Year semifinalist.
Once she arrived at Oregon State for the 2022-23 season, Beers said she didn't feel like she needed to make a name for herself in the NIL era. But rather, she wanted to focus on her game and become one of the best centers in the country. In her first two seasons in Corvallis, Beers was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, tied for the most double-doubles by a freshman nationally, ranked second in school history for rebounds (257), started every game her sophomore season, led the nation in field goal percentage (66.4%) and ranked in the top 25 nationally in points per possession (1.13).
"It felt like the name I was making for myself was based on what I was doing on the court," Beers said. "That's all that mattered to me. I just wanted to be the best version of myself out there."
After a successful two seasons at Oregon State, Beers entered the transfer portal as one of the most sought-after players -- ESPN had her ranked as the second-best player available. While top programs such as UConn attempted to woo her, the Oklahoma Sooners ultimately won her over.
"We're thrilled to add Raegan to our Oklahoma basketball family," Baranczyk said in an official statement. "She's an incredible talent on the court and will fit in perfectly with our program on and off the floor. Raegan will add another dynamic to our team, and I know that Sooner Nation will love her!"
Beers quickly dominated the court for the Sooners. Starting all 33 games during the 2024-25 season, Beers skyrocketed into the spotlight during last year's March Madness with four double-doubles. Her power on the court was undeniable. But it wasn't until her senior season that her dominance was nationally recognized, beyond the women's basketball crowd.
"I've obviously been in college for a long time now," Beers said. "So, the fact that it's blown up just now, it obviously has to do with other things, but it's just really cool to see that. I just loved it. All that hard work that you put in, just to see people liking your last name even though that's something that is just normal to me. It's a really fun moment."
IT DIDN'T TAKE long for the requests for the Beers' Sooners jersey to be made available to the public. The day after her jersey photo went viral, Fanatics made Beers' jersey available to purchase on its website as part of the "NIL Pick-A-Player Women's Basketball Jersey" category.
According to data provided by Fanatics, Beers "ranked first among all Oklahoma student-athletes in January sales, posting a 2,000% month-over-month increase in NIL sales from December 2025 to January 2026, with approximately 95% of her fiscal year NIL merchandise sales coming in January."
Beers and her agent talked about next steps. The biggest question was, "How are we going to capitalize off this moment?" Beers' agent texted her some ideas for T-shirts: "I'm just here for the Beers" and "Here for Beers."
It was a saying Beers heard throughout her entire athletic existence. Growing up with three siblings who all played sports, including her younger sister Rylie who plays basketball, Beers became accustomed to people jokingly saying they were at a sporting event "for the Beers."
Most recently, during a game against her sister's team, Belmont, one of her family friends made a sign, "I'm just here for the Beers." When Beers' agent texted her the same phrases, Beers immediately knew that she wanted "Here for Beers" as her slogan.
"It was perfect," she said.
Less than one month after her Fanatics debut, Beers received her own collection on the NIL Store. With "Here for Beers" tees in multiple colors and "We've got Beers's Back" crewnecks and tees, in addition to her jersey, Beers officially made it. And for the first time in her collegiate career, she leaned into the capitalization of her name.
"There was a time at Oregon State during my sophomore year where I was chosen as the one female athlete to sell jerseys at the campus store. So, I got a little taste of that and then there was another local store that sold jerseys and stuff with my name on it, but never like this," Beers said. "This was different."
Despite not knowing the exact number that she has made off NIL deals from her jersey and clothing sales, Beers said that it has been "positive" and a "huge increase." As Beers finishes her collegiate career and continues to add accolades to her name, such as reaching a career 2,000 points during the SEC tournament, her jersey sales and NIL account continue to grow.
"When you go from very little available with your name to an entire section on Fanatics and NIL Store, it's opened up a lot of doors for me and so many other athletes who get opportunities like this," Beers said . "I am super grateful for this opportunity and for all of my friends and family and now new fans who have been able to pour into me and support me."
As for her jersey going triple platinum in frats across America, Beers said that she has indeed seen an increase in fraternity fans at Sooners games.
"We want people to love basketball because they love watching us play. That has just been super cool through these jersey sales that have just skyrocketed in the past couple months to see that it's drawing people to my team here at OU and then drawn people to realize that they love basketball. Whatever it takes to get them in," Beers said. "If something as simple as my last name encourages them to watch me and watch our team, then that's really cool because it brings them in, right?"
