Ex-Nebraska Cornhuskers star done dirty by WNBA engagement farming

Jaz Shelley is not only one of the best Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball players to come through Lincoln in quite some time, but she's also one of the most popular. Unfortunately, she ex-Huskers star found out the hard way there's some downside to that level of popularity.

At the same time, Shelley and Nebraska Cornhuskers both learned once again that professional sports is, first and foremost a business. When things are all said and done, WNBA teams are like all other professional teams and their first interest is making money and gain popularity.

The Phoenix Mercury apparently knew exactly how to draw Husker fans in. They put up a picture of Jaz Shelley in her Mercury uniform an a very simply engagement farming message.

"hey there @HuskerWBB , we thought you'd want some Jaz Shelley content"

Had the Mercury not cut the former Nebraska Cornhuskers star the next day, it wouldn't have really been a problem. In fact, it would have been a great way to build up a relationship with a fanbase that is quite passionate about its players.

Instead, the post ended up looking rather cynical and there were more than a few Nebraska Cornhuskers fans who weren't happy about being jerked around.

Nebraska Cornhuskers fan engagement blowback

When the post first went up, fans understood what the Mercury was doing but when it looked like the WNBA team was just showing off its star player.

The engagement farming worked as several Nebraska Cornhuskers fans posted that they were Mercury fans.

Some Husker fans were very unhappy that the Mercury would post this a day before waiving Jaz Shelley.

The Mercury even got the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball team's head coach to join the act, before cutting Shelley.

The worst part of all of this is that Shelley might have thought this was a sign she was definitely making the WNBA team's roster just ahead of the end of the preseason. Instead, she and Nebraska Cornhuskers fans got taken on a ride by a social media team looking for likes.