Rock stars and NIL deals? Boise State’s ‘goth’ athlete makes most of ‘shocking’ fame

BOISE (Idaho Statesman)– A month ago Nora Hayd was like most every other Boise State student-athlete. The 20-year-old attended her visual arts classes, enjoyed painting and doing photo shoots around the Treasure Valley, and was preparing for her second season with the Boise State beach volleyball team.

Hayd still enjoys doing those things, but her life has also changed drastically. She gets stopped in the street by people asking to take pictures of her, has gained nearly 9,000 followers on her Instagram account and recently taught the rock band Simple Plan how to play volleyball at a music festival in Las Vegas.

She’s still the same Nora Hayd — except she’s also an internet sensation, known as the “Boise State goth beach volleyball player.” And she’s a woman who has capitalized on sudden fame to try to help her teammates, the program and other young athletes.

Hayd went viral on social media in early October after a college sports account came across her photo on the Boise State roster page. Hayd is wearing a face of white makeup, black eyeliner with large wings and a thick septum ring, and her hair is dyed hot pink across the top and fringe.

“It was really bizarre, it was just shocking,” Hayd told the Idaho Statesman in an interview while recalling her many minutes of fame. “I didn’t know what to do, but I knew everything was going to change for me.”

She wasn’t wrong. Life did change for Hayd. The NCAA’s decision a few years ago to allow athletes to profit from their Name, Image, and Likeness has resulted in a windfall of opportunities.

About a week after going viral, Hayd dropped her first pieces of merchandise — graphic tees, crewnecks and hoodies with a picture of her on the front. The graphic tee quickly skyrocketed to be the No. 7 best-selling item in the first week of October, according to The NIL Store. (The Broncos aren’t doing too bad in selling merchandise — two of the five best-selling items during the same period featured Boise State football’s Ashton Jeanty.)

Then, other NIL deals started rolling in for Hayd. The fashion chain Hot Topic flew her and her best friend to Las Vegas the weekend of Oct. 19-20 to attend the When We Were Young music festival.

While there, she hung with some of the bands, including Simple Plan, who wanted to meet her and film a promotional video. The band members got a lesson in beach volleyball basics in the meantime.

“It was really cool meeting everyone,” Hayd said, wearing a Hot Topic hoodie during the interview with the Statesman. “I was back there with all the bands, too. Everyone was super welcoming, super nice. I also had a bunch of freedom to see all the bands perform and just be there and enjoy it.”

She’s also been in talks with brands such as the canned beverage company Liquid Death and the sunglasses company Pit Viper.

With the latter, Hayd worked to get shades for her teammates. “I think (getting teammates involved) is one of the most important things,” Hayd said. “I think for our sport as a whole, I love the support that’s also been brought to the team, and even just beach volleyball in general.”

Hayd said she’s not big on money and fame — if anything, she would have been happy just going on with her college without any of this happening. But she wouldn’t trade the positives from the experience, such as having people “reach out and tell me how inspiring I am.”

“How they’re also an alternative athlete, and that it’s great to see representation,” Hayd said.

The spotlight that’s been on the beach volleyball team the past few weeks has also been a major positive, said Hayd, who is from Bothell, Washington, just outside of Seattle.

A post on the social media platform X highlighting the team’s sophomores, including Hayd, gained 3.5 million views and more than 11,000 likes. A post last weekend about the team’s match at the Surf City Challenge in California, featuring Hayd in the artwork, saw 3.1 million views and more than 30,000 likes.

Hayd and junior teammate Aris Vetter won in their respective pool at the two-day event. Fans wanting to watch Hayd and the rest of the beach volleyball team will get their only chance of the fall semester this weekend.

Boise State hosts the third annual City of Trees Classic, with competition at the Boise State Beach Volleyball Complex beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. on Sunday.

Boise State coach Allison Voigt described the 6-foot-1 Hayd as a “very good offensive player.”

Hayd was recently named the offensive player of the tournament at the Spokane AVCA Pairs.

“She’s a very good blocker, she’s able to read hitters really well at the net,” Voigt said. “And she’s just a big presence, so it’s really hard to play around her.”

Of course, when you think about beach volleyball, Idaho doesn’t tend to be the first place on your mind. The tournament this weekend will feature morning temperatures in the mid-40s, with a chance of rain.

But the Broncos’ beach volleyball team, not even a decade old, is making strides — Boise State’s move to the Pac-12 Conference in 2026 could provide a boost, too. Boise State is the only school heading to the new Pac-12 with a beach volleyball squad.

It became an NCAA-recognized sport in 2010, and the Broncos now play in the Southland Conference with the likes of Texas A&M Corpus Christi and New Orleans. Playing off the maxim that all publicity is good publicity, Hayd hopes for a positive future.

“Boise State beach volleyball has already grown immensely in the past at least two years I’ve been here,” Hayd said. “But I’m super excited for it to be seen more and grow even more.”