Ajsa Sivka snubbed the Chicago Sky to play college basketball at Kentucky. The 20-year-old Slovenian superstar officially signed with the Wildcats on Wednesday.
She will likely make more money in Lexington than she would as a pro.
This unexpected announcement completely changes the landscape of women’s college basketball next season. There is a lot of pressure for Sivka to live up to the hype— and her pay check.
The Chicago Sky already drafted Ajsa Sivka.
For those who are not familiar, Sivka hails from the beautiful small town of Slovenske Konjice in Slovenia. She immediately stood out amongst her peers on the hardwood from a very young age.
The 6-foot-4 guard represented her country at the FIBA Under-17 Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2022, where she averaged 11.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in seven games. Sivka was then invited to play for the national team at the EuroBasket Women in 2023 (as the youngest player at the event). She was also named as the MVP of the FIBA Women’s U18 European Championship just a few months later.
Sivka began her professional career that same year with with Beretta Famila Schio of the Lega Basket Femminile, the top pro league in Italy. She played the 2024-25 season with with Tarbes Gespe Bigorre of the Ligue Féminine de Basketball, the top pro league in France.
This is where things get interesting.
Ajsa Sivka was selected by the Chicago Sky with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. The 19-year-old was in attendance at the Draft and took a photo on stage with the league commissioner.
However, Sivka did not join the Sky last season because she wanted to focus on her national team duties with Slovenia for EuroBasket Women 2025 and on graduating from high school. She never signed a contract.
That allowed her to play for Joventut Badalona of the Liga Feminina de Baloncesto, the top pro league in Spain, at the end of last year. It also made her eligible to play college basketball in the United States.
Kentucky is (probably) going to pay her more money.
The University of Kentucky announced the signing of Ajsa Sivka on Wednesday morning. She is a huge addition to a Wildcats team that got upset in the second round of the NCAA Tournament earlier this year. A player that was drafted No. 10 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft is going to play the 2026-27 college basketball season in Lexington. What a time to be alive!
I do not know whether Sivka would be tied to the Sky if she was to try and play in the WNBA this season instead of at Kentucky but I would imagine she will make more money with the Wildcats.
Under the 2025 WNBA rookie scale, the 10th pick was set to make ~$72,455. Under the 2026 WNBA rookie scale, the No. 10 overall pick will receive a four-year contract worth ~1.3 million with a first-year base salary of $289,133.
With the amount of money in college basketball these days, I fully expect Sivka to get paid at least $300,000 next season. I cannot say for certain, because the agreement has not been made public, but that seems to be a logical conclusion.