Leonard Ellerbe’s first foray into the increasingly lucrative world of women’s college basketball paid almost immediate dividends.

Ellerbe attended a press conference Monday morning in State College, Pennsylvania, to announce the transfer of former Rutgers point guard Kiyomi McMiller to Big Ten rival Penn State. The former Mayweather Promotions CEO is McMiller’s adviser on NIL deals.

Ellerbe told The Ring on Monday that McMiller secured more money for name, image and likeness rights than any of the more than 1,400 women who entered the Division I transfer portal in advance of the 2025-26 season. He believes McMiller has the skills to eventually become the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft.

“She is a special talent,” Ellerbe told The Ring. “She’s the most exciting player in women’s college basketball.”

The 5-foot-8 McMiller, of Silver Springs, Maryland, was a consensus five-star recruit for Rutgers before the 2024-25 season. She averaged a team-high 18.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the Scarlet Knights, who struggled during a 13-20 season.

Rutgers coach Coquese Washington suspended McMiller for two games early in January, reportedly due to an altercation with an unidentified teammate in Rutgers’ locker room after a January 2 game at Maryland. McMiller returned to play in six games for the Scarlet Knights, though her transfer seemed inevitable.

She last played for Rutgers on February 6. McMiller entered the transfer portal late in March.

Ellerbe was the front man for Mayweather’s promotional company for 17 years, until Mayweather parted ways with his longtime confidante last June. He helped promote all of Mayweather’s pay-per-view fights, most notably the undefeated five-division champion’s unanimous points victory over rival Manny Pacquiao in May 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Mayweather-Pacquiao produced more than $600 million in overall revenue. It also generated approximately 4.4 million buys, a pay-per-view record in the United States.

Ellerbe, a native of Washington, D.C., began working with McMiller because he is a friend of her family.