Brink decided to make a change for the sake of her mental well-being. “I just decided to remove myself. I knew I deserved better, so I left. And I’m happy I did,” she said.
Before senior year, Brink transferred to a recently opened school called Mountainside High. The fresh start suited her socially and on the court. Brink averaged 19.7 points and 12.9 rebounds per game as a senior, and was named to the McDonald’s and Jordan Brand Classic All-American teams in 2020.
4. She was recruited by Stanford, where she became a defensive standout.
Talk about a full-circle moment: Stanford, the school which sparked her love for basketball as a middle-schooler, made Brink her first-ever scholarship offer. Brink was already laser-focused on Stanford, so it was a natural fit to join the team under coach Tara VanDerveer.
During Brink’s freshman season, the team won all 20 games she started. They also clinched their first NCAA championship since 1992, eking out the victory by one point. Brink contributed 10 of the team’s 54 points in that game and led in blocks.
During her first three years of college, Brink set—then reset—the school record for single-season blocks, finishing with 118 as a junior, ranking number two in the country. As a sophomore and junior, she led the team in points, rebounds, and blocks.
Brink helped her team become Pac-12 regular season champions for four consecutive seasons and win the Pac-12 tournament in 2021 and 2022. In 2024, Brink finished her collegiate career with the most blocks in Stanford history with 424—a stat that helped her win the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.
5. Steph Curry doles out some handy training advice.
Brink has a secret weapon that’s come in handy during her journey to the WNBA: Her godbrother is one of the NBA’s top shooters, Stephen Curry. Their dads played basketball together in college, and their moms were college roommates. The families remain close friends, and the Currys are Brink’s godparents.
At a press conference before Brink’s first NCAA tournament, Curry told reporters that he and his dad “spent a little bit of time with her [and] gave her some pointers” to develop her jump shot. He added that she’s “off and running” now and “it’s been awesome to watch” her develop as a player.
So when it came time for the 2024 WNBA draft, it’s no surprise that Brink reached out to him to share the moment. She Facetimed Curry minutes before it kicked off, and later told reporters that her godbrother reminded her to “have fun with it.”
6. Over a million people follow her on social media.
Brink’s athletic dominance, fashion sense—she was recently featured in a SKIMS campaign alongside other WNBA players—and openness on social media made her a must-follow: She’s racked up nearly 800,000 on Instagram and over 300,000 on TikTok.
So it’s only fitting that Brink has benefited from the NCAA’s 2019 Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) ruling, which allows student-athletes to make money from brand deals. According to On3, she’s made close to $300,000 through NIL partnerships (with brands like Estee Lauder and Sprouts) this year through April 16, which makes her the 10th highest-paid women’s basketball player in the NCAA.
7. Brink made history with a New Balance sponsorship.
Despite growing up in the Nike zip code and self-describing herself as a “Nike kid” thanks to her parents’ jobs, Brink accepted a sponsorship contract with New Balance in August 2023. According to a statement from the brand, she’s New Balance’s first sponsored female basketball player.