To say it’s been a whirlwind week for Nika Mühl would be an understatement. While the male collegiate players have months of time between their season ending, their draft and then the start of the season, the women are on a much tighter schedule: The NCAA final was only last weekend, the WNBA draft Monday night in New York and the training starting up in a few weeks, as the WNBA season begins this summer.
For the UConn player, it’s been a week of taking it as it comes.
“I think the commissioner called me, I would say six days ago, seven days ago,” Mühl says from the Glossier glam chair at the Westin Grand Central on draft morning. “I remember I was in the shower and she called me. I’m like naked in the shower, answering the phone.”
From there, the 23-year-old Croatian prepped to come to New York for the weekend of draft activities, which included a trip to the Empire State Building earlier in the morning with the rest of the 2024 class.
“I’m very scared of heights. It was not my comfort zone, so I just kind of stepped on it and was like ‘I’m good,’” she says.
“Honestly, I was a little overwhelmed — positively overwhelmed,” she added about the experience thus far. “I thought you show up, you put a dress on what you’re wearing, and you go out here, your name is called and that’s it. But there’re so many things leading up to it.”
The draft day began at the Westin, where the players had makeup by Glossier and hair by Mielle, and then dispersed to styling and jewelry suites to get ready. Mühl opted for a black look by Rotate for the big night, and got ready with UConn teammates Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd — and some Chipotle, of course.
“I’ve decided to wear a little two-piece. I have a little black blazer that’s kind of shorter, and then a longer skirt with a slit. It’s black. I have a lot of silver accessories, just a little cool vibe,” she says of her look, which was styled by Brittany Hampton.
Mühl counts her mother as one of her biggest fashion inspirations, and has always loved to dress differently from her peers.
“I was very unique with my style ever since I was a kid. I feel like I would go to school and people would laugh at me for the way I dress. But I didn’t care,” she says. “My mom told me I look good.”
“I definitely evolved, but I kind of always have that one little thing, that one little piece on me that’s maybe different from what other people would like. I don’t care,” she adds. “I mean, that’s me. I would say [my style is] very edgy, very cool, very masculine and feminine. It depends on how I’m feeling.”
She describes Croatian style as more “traditional and safe” with an emphasis on comfort.
“I wear a lot of sweats and a lot of streetwear too, and I would say that comes from that Croatian comfort. But I always try to run away from that part. I always try to put something on that when I walk through the streets of Croatia, people are going to hate it or love it,” she says. “It’s never in between.”
Beauty-wise, Mühl says she’s a big skin care person who has recently been learning how to do makeup.
“I learn from my teammates. I have a teammate, Olivia [Nelson-Ododa], who taught me a lot about makeup and fashion. She’s very much into it. She’s older than me, so I was watching,” she says. “I’m not big on trends. I just like what works for me and I like to try things out, but I’m very passionate about it.”
She likes to wear makeup every time she plays, opting for “that clean girl vibe for games.” The trick to getting it to last?
“A lot of setting spray. Two different setting sprays — I use One/Size in combination with Charlotte Tilbury,” she says. “I love those two. They make it stick. It’s not moving.”
Later in the night, Mühl would go on to be selected by the Seattle Storm, with a move to Seattle coming in the next few weeks. Her graduation at UConn will happen while she’s at training camp, so she and the other seniors already did their cap and gown photo-op together.
“It was unexpected for me to be here too. I didn’t know I was going to get invited, so everything was kind of quick, last minute, but it’s honestly the most overwhelming, craziest process ever,” Mühl says. “I haven’t even moved out [from UConn] — that’s where I’m at right now.”
