Gymnast Olivia Dunne Is Returning to LSU for a Fifth Year: 'Not Dunne Yet'

The NIL star and social media powerhouse announced on Instagram that she will stay in school and help the Tigers defend the school's national title in 2025

Olivia Dunne of the LSU Tigers competes during a meet against the Florida Gators at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on February 23, 2024
Olivia Dunne. Photo:

James Gilbert/Getty

The NCAA’s highest-paid female athlete is “not Dunne yet”!

Olivia Dunne announced in an Instagram post on Monday, July 8 that she is returning for a fifth year at LSU.

“Dear LSU, these past four years have changed my life,” Dunne, 21, said in the video post, which shared highlights of the gymnast’s high-flying accomplishments. “There’s something about putting on a purple and gold leotard. There’s something about competing in front of 13,000 screaming Tiger fans.”

She continued, “There’s something about being pushed by your coaches to be your very best. And there’s something about being a part of a team that made school history.”

Dunne concluded, “And no matter how many opportunities come my way off the mat, there’s just something about LSU. And that’s why I’m here to say I’m not Dunne yet.”

The New Jersey native’s success at LSU has translated off the mat over the past four years, with the social media powerhouse earning numerous endorsements — and a spot in the 2024 SI Swimsuit issue.

Currently worth an estimated $3.9 million, according to the On3 NIL 100 list, she became the top-earning NCAA female athlete after the NCAA agreed to the new Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policy in July 2021, allowing student-athletes to accept sponsorship deals.

Since helping LSU win the NCAA gymnastics championship in April, Dunne purchased a new house, and her boyfriend, the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching phenom Paul Skenes, also recently made his own news. 

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Skenes, 22, was named to the MLB All-Star team over the weekend, less than two months after he was called up from the minors.

In a post on X, Dunne congratulated her beau, who also played for LSU before making it in the MLB, and they celebrated his historic feat with balloons and pizza. 

In an interview with PEOPLE in May, Dunne shared some of her summer plans, which she said at the time called for "relaxing."

"During my season I have a bunch of work obligations, I push them aside to the summer because I'm just so busy during the season and then it kind of starts to pile up during my summers," Dunne told PEOPLE. "So right now I'm starting to get to the point where it's piling up a bit, but I'm going to balance it all and I'm going to make everything work between going and seeing Paul, working and relaxing."

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