Retweet from Washut - Being an Adidas School is recruiting disadvantage

[TheKamdyMan]

OT kind of but my buddy said the shoe designer they got from Nike for basketball is incredible. He was the original creator of the "penny" shoe line and has been one of the top guys on the Jordan line lately. Hopefully he brings some good options for the future.

[49r]

 

 

So, some of the recent schools we've lost recruits to are: (i) Elbert Robinson to LSU (Nike), (ii) Jordan Cornish to UNLV (Nike), (iii) Deng Deng to Baylor (Nike), (iv) Dusan Ristic to Arizona (Nike).

Coincidence?! . . . Or just sour grapes / convenient excuse?

Who did we beat out for Glynn Watson?

Creighton - Nike

Purdue - Nike

Tennessee - Nike

Iowa - Nike

West Virginia - Nike

Who did we beat out for Ed Morrow?

Creighton - Nike

Iowa - Nike

Minnesota - Nike

Florida St - Nike

SMU - Nike

Who did we beat out for Andrew White III?

Maryland - Under Armour

Richmond - no sponsorship deal as far as I can tell but they wear Nike uniforms

Notre Dame - Adidas

Wake Forest - Nike

Miami - Nike

Florida St - Nike

It has more to do with coincidence than anything, seeing as how there are many more schools with shoe contracts with Nike than Adidas, we're going to lose out to/beat out mostly Nike schools.

FWIW, Baylor is an Adidas school for hoops: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Adidas_sponsorships#Colleges_and_Universities

Wow! The prevalence of Nike on that list is overwhelming. And of the three or four non-Nike schools on the list (excluding Nebraska), two are there because of proximity to the recruit's home.

Having no personal knowledge about the issue, that list is the strongest argument I've ever seen in support of the proposition that shoe identification matters in recruiting . . . and matters a lot! And it shows the recruiting success of Tim Miles & Co. to be even more impressive than previously thought.

 

 

I made a mistake about Notre Dame, they switched to Under Armour this year.

 

But I think you missed my point.  There is a reason why Nike is so prevalent on that list, and that is because the vast majority of schools, especially in the Power Five conferences have shoe contracts with Nike.  My point was to counter the argument that we lose recruits to Nike schools just because of their associations with that shoe company.

 

While that may play a small factor into some recruiting battles, I don't believe it's as much of a factor that some choose to believe it is.  We lose recruits and we beat out other schools for recruits.  Owing to the fact that Nike sponsorships outnumber Adidas sponsorships by about 5 to 1 at the major conference level, we're almost always going to beat out Nike schools for kids (and we're almost always going to lose out to those schools, just due to the sheer numbers alone) but the contracts themselves don't change things in the big picture, IMO.

 

There have been discussions about this very article on message boards all over the web, and I have even seen fans of Nike schools worry about how much influence these shoe companies have on kids at the AAU level and how it is a detriment to the game.  Everybody knows recruiting is at least a cut throat business and can be at times out right dirty, and events like this only go to show just how dirty of a game it can be.

 

But to say that Nebraska is at such a disadvantage just because of the shoes they wear?  I'm not buying it.  So, to take the very long way around, what I'm really trying to say is that I think it is sour grapes / convenient excuse.  I misspoke earlier when I said "coincidence".  I really meant to say it is not coincidence.

[Huskerpapa]

Although shoes seem to be the focus...the issues are more about those individuals that are affliated with the brands.  This is a pretty decent book on the subject:  Sole Influence: Basketball, Corporate Greed, and the Corruption of America’s Youth.

 

The shoes, the gear, the pomp all are orchastrated by adults who oftentime provides ugly influence on talented young kids.

[uneblinstu]

OT kind of but my buddy said the shoe designer they got from Nike for basketball is incredible. He was the original creator of the "penny" shoe line and has been one of the top guys on the Jordan line lately. Hopefully he brings some good options for the future.

That adidas got from Nike?

[TheKamdyMan]

OT kind of but my buddy said the shoe designer they got from Nike for basketball is incredible. He was the original creator of the "penny" shoe line and has been one of the top guys on the Jordan line lately. Hopefully he brings some good options for the future.

That adidas got from Nike?

Yes adidas recently stole three highly acclaimed shoe designers from Nike. One basketball, one soccer, and one running designer are coming over next year after a 6 month no compete clause is completed.

[hhcmatt]

I don't know how/why some of you keep trying to deny this is a real factor. It's like taking a stance that the surface of the sun isn't hot- You're just backing a factually incorrect position. There is no opinion involved here.

 

It's not about denying as much as downplaying. At this time the sort of 5 star kids who are going to be steered by shoe companies are not the kids we're recruiting/in the hunt for.  As far as the kids who are willing to pick a school based on their shoe alliance....is a program with our basketball tradition and the "excitement" of Lincoln going to land someone so vapid anyway?

[uneblinstu]

Huh, interesting. It'll be interesting to see how this impacts the sneaker landscape.

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/playbooks-profits/index.ssf/2014/09/adidas_hires_three_all-star_ni.html

[Red Rum]

OT kind of but my buddy said the shoe designer they got from Nike for basketball is incredible. He was the original creator of the "penny" shoe line and has been one of the top guys on the Jordan line lately. Hopefully he brings some good options for the future.

 

Those were my favorite shoes. I wore Penny 2's in high school. They have since fallen apart but there are still in my closet. I can't bring myself to toss them out.

[AuroranHusker]

 

OT kind of but my buddy said the shoe designer they got from Nike for basketball is incredible. He was the original creator of the "penny" shoe line and has been one of the top guys on the Jordan line lately. Hopefully he brings some good options for the future.

 

Those were my favorite shoes. I wore Penny 2's in high school. They have since fallen apart but there are still in my closet. I can't bring myself to toss them out.

 

 

And those Penny commercials were sweet w/ "half-Penny"!

[TheKamdyMan]

 

 

OT kind of but my buddy said the shoe designer they got from Nike for basketball is incredible. He was the original creator of the "penny" shoe line and has been one of the top guys on the Jordan line lately. Hopefully he brings some good options for the future.

 

Those were my favorite shoes. I wore Penny 2's in high school. They have since fallen apart but there are still in my closet. I can't bring myself to toss them out.

 

 

And those Penny commercials were sweet w/ "half-Penny"!

 

 

Its honestly one of the few shoe commercials that really stick out to me in my lifetime.  Great marketing campaign around them.  I couldnt tell you a thing about Kobe, Durant, or Lebrons, but Chris Rock as Lil Penny, a lot.

[AuroranHusker]

 

 

 

OT kind of but my buddy said the shoe designer they got from Nike for basketball is incredible. He was the original creator of the "penny" shoe line and has been one of the top guys on the Jordan line lately. Hopefully he brings some good options for the future.

 

Those were my favorite shoes. I wore Penny 2's in high school. They have since fallen apart but there are still in my closet. I can't bring myself to toss them out.

 

 

And those Penny commercials were sweet w/ "half-Penny"!

 

 

Its honestly one of the few shoe commercials that really stick out to me in my lifetime.  Great marketing campaign around them.  I couldnt tell you a thing about Kobe, Durant, or Lebrons, but Chris Rock as Lil Penny, a lot.

 

 

"It's Gotta be the Shoes" campaign for Jordan were pretty classic.

 

[Navin R. Johnson]

The Jordan and Spike Lee commercials are the ones I remember.

[lanigan123]

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/basketball/2014/10/17/analysis-nike-schools-land-top-recruits/17458319/

Article backing up claims that nike schools get top recruits.