If a kid chooses a Nike school because they don't like Adidas, see ya. If you're that shallow we don't want you here.
This ADidas thing -STUPID
- Thread starter RUinSC
- Start date
It is not a matter of the way a sneaker looks. Nike and Adidas pick up the tab for coaches and travel for a lot of high school age and below athletes. Money is spread around for instructors/adults at clinics and camps, too. Sonny Vaccaro and Jerry Tarkanian, in retrospect, were ahead of their time. Painted as shady characters, all the high profile programs have a little "Sonny and Jerry" in them. Wonder what Jerry Tarkanian and Al McGuire would have said about the classroom shenanigans that North Carolina has had in-place for all these years.
Tarkanian's rolling mantra was that the NCAA had a double-standard for enforcement, that it picked on smaller schools but protected the sugar-daddy power programs. This produced variations of his most famous quote: "The NCAA was so mad at North Carolina they gave East Carolina two more years of probation."
That's exactly right. These companies are masters at creating brand loyalty. Some of you guys need to understand the realities out there.
This stuff matters.
Mr Twister is right on. If you are a kid who plays for a Nike sponsored AAU program, where Nike pays for big chunks of the coaches salaries, travel, apparel, etc. where do you think that AAU HC prefer his kid to go: a Nike school, a UA school or an Adidas school? Same goes for Adidas sponsored AAU programs and UA ones.
I am in the lot of people that we have not had one influential basketball choose RU because we have been a Nike school in the past. Don't see the big deal on this at all.
When Rosario transferred it was to a Nike school.
In fact, when Rosario committed to Rutgers, I believe all of his finalists were Nike schools, at that time.
Despite his AAU team being sponsored by adidas.
I can't completely agree with this. Not every kid who plays HS & AAU basketball is steered to a college based on shoe affiliation & their coach needing to keep the shoe company happy.
But do not overlook the fact that some of these kids have been wearing Nike sneakers their entire lives. From the time they were infants & mom or dad bought them a pair of Baby Jordans.
Some of these kids simply cannot imagine wearing anything other than Nike. I know kids who were not even ranked in the Rivals150 who factored in shoe affiliation when they made their college choice. Most of those kids played for either a Nike or Under Armour AAU program and/or HS.
In all of the years that I've covered recruiting and interviewed prospects exactly one player told me that when it came time to pick a school he was picking an adidas school. It caught me off guard because up to that point no kid had ever voluntarily mentioned shoe affiliation to me as being important in his decision.
Btw, the player was Carlton Bragg. He told me that in May 2014...he committed to Kansas.
Bottom line...they're kids and this stuff matters to many of them
Now I know I'm getting old when kids pick schools because they offer the shoes they like to wear. No offense Russ, but I don't know how you deal with kids or adults like this. That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my entire lifetime. That really should be reason #1001 on why you pick a school or not even enter the conversation.
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