Cal guard Jayda Noble paints custom shoes to express her artistic side when she leaves the court

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — With practice still a few hours away, Jayda Noble sits down at her desk and squeezes some fresh black paint right onto the top of her left hand just below the thumb. There’s already some white and red, a little bit of pink and purple along her wrist.

Of course paint always covers her university-issued California women’s basketball wear, too.

Noble works intently to touch up a pair of custom shoes she painted for Indiana guard Myles Rice, one of the two boxes Noble sent him for his first season with the Hoosiers after transferring from Washington State.

“Every time I do something I'm working on a skill," she said, “some brush work, some hand work, something. So I'm getting better and it's therapeutical. I feel like this is my me time all wrapped into one. It does get stressful, don't get me wrong, but if I keep a good kind of rhythm going every day then it's smooth sailing.”

Stacked just inside the door of her Berkeley apartment are boxes of in-progress shoes that Noble is trying to finish in any spare time she has between basketball and her graduate business studies at Cal.

She transferred from Washington and moved many of her art materials from Seattle to the Bay Area, including several large paintings. It’s her passion, sure, but also a business — and her catchy Instagram handle is “Jayyycasso,” like Picasso.

Rice is a redshirt sophomore at Indiana who sat out the 2022-23 season in Pullman, Washington, while undergoing treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma which he completed on March 9, 2023, with a final chemotherapy round.

He wore Spider-Man-themed shoes painted by Noble in his first home game and will carefully choose when to bring them out so they stay clean.

“I thought they were very beautiful ... and just made the thoughts that I had come to life,” Rice said. “She did two shoes. One was a Spider-Man one because that’s one of my favorite superheroes and it had my cancer ribbon on it as well so it was kind of close to me.”

Rice plans to be a repeat customer and send Noble more shoes later this season and also order some for his family as gifts. Noble and Rice became friends when both were in Washington.

Noble pulled off a Taylor Swift-themed shoe for another good friend, noting, “I’m not the biggest Swiftie but I thought they were fun to do.”

During an off day, Noble might paint into the wee hours. Sometimes her roommate and teammate Kayla Williams comes out of her room at 2:30 a.m. to find Noble still busy at her art.

“She’ll just be like, ‘What are you doing up?’" Noble said, “and I’m like, ‘What are you doing up?’”

Noble keeps about six pairs of shoes in a painting rotation so if she needs a break from one there’s another to paint until an idea comes and she goes back to one she set aside.

“It’s easier to work on a shoe and then not feel it anymore and jump to something else,” she said. “And it keeps it interesting for me so that I can bounce around.”

Noble did shoes for each of her teammates and the Cal coaching staff and is nearly done with 15 “PR boxes," as she calls them — shoes for some of the nation’s top stars who might become supporters and help spread the word. UConn's Paige Bueckers was on that list, and TCU’s Hailey Van Lith just received a pair featuring flowers and a horned frog for her school mascot.

“They’re beautiful. She’s obviously extremely talented. I’m just so grateful that she thought of me and that I inspired her to create such a beautiful piece of art," Van Lith said. “Very grateful for her, for using her artistic skills and creating such an awesome surprise. ... The one thing you love about Jayda is she’s such a genuine and authentic person. She’s going to be who she is and that’s what you love about her.”

Soon, it looks as if Noble might even be painting shoes for a couple of interested sneakerheads on the Golden State Warriors: Jonathan Kuminga and Lindy Waters III.

On the court for No. 24 Cal, Noble has made an impact with her energy and stingy defense. She contributed a 3-pointer during Friday's 83-63 victory against Stanford as the Golden Bears made a program-record 18 3s.

Coach Charmin Smith has a couple of pairs and will add more to her rotation.

“Those Jayyycasso's, they're hot,” Smith said.

The 5-foot-11 guard comes by her artistic talent naturally. Noble fondly remembers painting with her avid scrapbooking mother growing up in Spokane, Washington.

When nearly done, she meticulously takes one final scan of the entire shoe in search of anything that isn’t quite right and will "go back over them with either my paint remover or white paint, and just clean it up so they look really nice.”

Noble sets her prices based on how long she spends on a project and when a customer needs the shoes. Most run about $175 with shipping and it's an additional $15 for the box to also be painted.

Since Rice purchased two pair she gave him a deal.

“I’ve been able to be a part and see everything since she started it,” Rice said. “We both were on the West Coast in the Pac-12. Just seeing the heights that she’s brought it to and everything she does it’s just amazing to see and I’m really happy for her.”

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In this image provided by Indiana Athletics, Indiana guard Myles Rice is shown wearing shoes painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble as he brings the ball up the court during an NCAA college basketball game against SIU-Edwardsville, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Bloomington, Ind. (Trent Barnhart/Indiana Athletics via AP)

In this image provided by TCU Athletics, shoes painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble for TCU guard Hailey Van Lith are displayed in Fort Worth, Texas, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Zach Campbell/TCU Athletics via AP)

In this image provided byt TCU Athletics, TCU guard Hailey Van Lith holds up shoes painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble in Fort Worth, Texas, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Zach Campbell/TCU Athletics via AP)

A shoebox painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble for Indiana's Myles Rice is held by Noble in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California guard Jayda Noble looks to pass the ball during an NCAA college basketball game against Stanford in Berkeley, Calif., Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

The shoes of California guard Jayda Noble are shown before an NCAA college basketball game against Stanford in Berkeley, Calif., Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble holds up shoes showing her artwork in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble holds a shoe she is painting in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble mixes paint on her hand while painting shoes in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble paints shoes in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Shoes and artwork painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble are displayed in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Shoes painted by California basketball player Jayda Noble are displayed in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

California basketball player Jayda Noble is interviewed in front of her artwork in Berkeley, Calif., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

HONOLULU (AP) — Brooks Koepka becomes the first LIV Golf player to return to the PGA Tour under a one-time program for elite players.

It's not a free pass back to the PGA Tour. Koepka has to make a $5 million charitable donation. He won't be able to receive PGA Tour equity grants for five years. He isn't eligible for FedEx Cup bonus money in 2026. And he can't receive sponsor exemptions into the $20 million signature events.

He plans to return in the Farmers Insurance Open on Jan. 29 at Torrey Pines in San Diego. He is eligible to reach the lucrative FedEx Cup postseason. He also is eligible for the Presidents Cup and for the indoor TGL circuit in Florida.

But the CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises, Brian Rolapp, said this was not a precedent and that only three other LIV Golf players were eligible to return.

Here's a rundown on Koepka's return and what it means for other players and the rest of golf.

The PGA Tour board developed a “Returning Member Program” that applies to players who have won majors or The Players Championship since 2022 and have been away from the PGA Tour for at least two years. Koepka won the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, one year after he defected to LIV Golf for what Koepka had said was a deal worth at least $100 million. Koepka had one year left on his LIV contract when he and the Saudi-backed group agreed to an amicable split. Koepka is exempt through 2028 because of his PGA Championship win.

That depends. The out-of-pocket expense is the $5 million donation to charity, which the tour will help decide. By not having access to equity grants, the tour estimates that could deprive him up to $63 million. That's based on Koepka averaging a top-30 finish the next five years, a 10-12% equity appreciation and Koepka holding his shares until age 50.

He also cannot get FedEx Cup bonus money from the $20 million pool distributed to the top 10 players after the regular season, and $23 million awarded to 50 players after the BMW Championship. But the Tour Championship is now official money, and that $40 million purse counts as official. Tommy Fleetwood earned $10 million in official money from winning the Tour Championship last year.

Bryson DeChambeau won the 2024 U.S. Open. Jon Rahm wont he 2023 Masters. Cameron Smith won the British Open and The Players Championship in 2022. They are the only other players who can return to the PGA Tour. They have until Feb. 2 to accept. That's two days before LIV Golf begins a fifth season in Saudi Arabia.

The PGA Tour did not clarify why it chose the 2022-25 window. LIV Golf began in 2022. But that rules out major champions Phil Mickelson (2021 PGA Championship), Dustin Johnson (2020 Masters), Patrick Reed (2018 Masters) and Sergio Garcia (2017 Masters).

Also ineligible to return are Joaquin Niemann, a seven-time winner on LIV Golf, and Tyrrell Hatton, who has played on the last three Ryder Cup teams for Europe.

None of those players has expressed any desire to leave LIV.

No. Rolapp described Koepka as a unique situation and made clear this would not be a precedent, rather a one-time program that applies only to elite champions. He also said there were no guarantees such a pathway would be available in the future.

Koepka is eligible for the four majors and The Players Championship (through his PGA Championship win), along with any full-field event on the schedule. He would have to qualify for the $20 million signature events through winning a tour event or through the two performance-based pathways, such as being among top 10 in the FedEx Cup not already eligible. But he cannot get a sponsor exemption to the signature events. He also is eligible for the FedEx Cup postseason if he qualifies.

If Koepka gets into a signature event, or if he qualifies for the postseason, the PGA Tour would add him to the field and take whoever would have been next in line. For example, he finishes among the top 70 to qualify for the postseason, the tour would take No. 71 in the FedEx Cup standings.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

FILE - Brooks Koepka laughs while talking with Justin Thomas, left, on the 15th fairway during a practice round at the Masters golf tournament, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

FILE - Brooks Koepka tees off on the 15th hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Friday, June 13, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)