OT: Uniformz - Tennessee switching from Adidas to Nike.
Notre Dame, now Tennessee, make the call Dave.
January 31st, 2014 at 11:27 AM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 11:27 AM ^
No, UCLA, Nebraska and Indiana will switch before we do...
January 31st, 2014 at 11:29 AM ^
That michigan was going to sign a deal with jerzees brand in the future.
January 31st, 2014 at 11:36 AM ^
It's gonna be Zubazz. The tournament jerseys last year were just a trial balloon.
January 31st, 2014 at 11:44 AM ^
Frankly I'd like to see them go really outside the box and open up talks with Joseph A. Bank.
January 31st, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
Buy one jersey, get the next 15 uniforms free.
January 31st, 2014 at 2:17 PM ^
I almost choked on a mouthful of rice I was laughing so hard.
You magnificient bastard.
January 31st, 2014 at 12:29 PM ^
I wouldn't mind seeing them in some lulu lemon
January 31st, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
I'm hearing classic cycling clothing brand Nalini is being considered.
January 31st, 2014 at 11:29 AM ^
It's up to Nike, adidas and Under Armor. I'll be shocked if Michigan doesn't go to the highest bidder that keeps M the highest paying deal.
January 31st, 2014 at 11:32 AM ^
adidas just let 2 of their biggest university deals walk away. ND got a lot of money from Under Armour, but I highly doubt Nike offered Tennessee much as their college contracts have been much smaller than adidas. Either Tennessee really wanted to get rid of adidas or adidas may be shifting their priorities with respect to university apparel deals.
January 31st, 2014 at 2:18 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 11:33 AM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 11:33 AM ^
Highly doubt Michigan settles for less than having the best deal.
Now that notre dame is gone, Michigan is #1 for adidas. They're going to throw everything at them to keep them.
January 31st, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^
If adidas just let ND and Tennessee walk, why do you think they are now going to shell out some outrageous deal for Michigan?
The only major schools left with adidas are now Michigan, UCLA, Kansas, Nebraska, Indiana, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Louisville, and Cincinnati. Half of them are basketball first programs.
January 31st, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^
You're forgetting the cash cow that is Mississippi State.
January 31st, 2014 at 3:02 PM ^
LOL. Left out NC State as well. Not sure which one is the bigger insult.
January 31st, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^
The reasons I have seen:
1. Certain game worn jerseys tear and are bad quality.
I just don't think that is different among the companies and even if it was, they work to fix the problem.
2. Fans prefer the style and fit of certain fan apparel.
That just seems like an extremely minor thing to care about.
3. Certain companies do better with recruits.
That just sounds insane to me. A kid who even lets that influence his college choice is probably not smart enough to be academically eligible to finish HS.
4. Uniformz!!
It's the same crap for all companies. They all try new styles to sell more jerseys.
So, how can people care about this stuff? I mean, I see more reason to care about Dave Brandon's facial hair than apparel contracts. Is it just me?
January 31st, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^
I've never understood the obsession either. Yet there seems to be a thread everytime anyone switches companies.
January 31st, 2014 at 11:39 AM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 11:41 AM ^
When someone can find a recruit that's ever said, "I'm going here because that's a Nike school" then I'll believe this.
January 31st, 2014 at 11:45 AM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 2:41 PM ^
i wouldn't say 90%, but market reports show nike is still the dominant brand.
http://newsontips.com/nike-hikes-dominance-among-teens-armour-slips/
January 31st, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 7:49 PM ^
you go to a gym you will See Under Armor has far surpassed everyone.. including Nike
January 31st, 2014 at 11:48 AM ^
Shoe companies have a huge role in basketball recruiting from sponsoring AAU teams and coaches. It's a slimy business. And I think it is only a matter of time until it spreads into the growing 7 on 7 summer football tournaments.
For example: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/18482120/muhammads-choice-a-shoein-for-adidas-school-ucla
Surprise, who did Muhammed and McLemore sign with after turning pro: adidas
January 31st, 2014 at 12:21 PM ^
Given that John Beilein jumps right out of a recruitment if sliminess is going on, I don't think this will affect us one tiny bit.
Kentucky is a recruiting powerhouse. They wear Nike. Kansas is a recruiting powerhouse. They wear adidas. Anyone claiming some kind of correlation between recruiting success and wearing a particular brand is full of it. We pulled Mitch McGary away from every elite basketball school in the country. I bet it wasn't because of adidas.
January 31st, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^
The AAU coaches and teams are sponsored by shoe companies. They may promote certain schools to the prospect or take them to that university's camp. The prospects grow up wearing a certain brand. It has an effect, and Nike is the dominant player in the market. I am not saying it is always the primary or only reason a recruit chooses a school, but you are making a big mistake if you ignore its impact. How would you feel if Anthony Davis had chose OSU partially due to Nike? Yes, we got McGary, but the margins can be very small between winning and losing. Personally, I would prefer to be with the major player in the market.
And like I pointed out above, it seems like adidas is invested in basketball. Half of their major college contracts are historically basketball schools (Kansas, UCLA, Indiana, Louisville, and Cincinnati). I am more worried about the football effect especially with adidas losing 2 of their major football contracts. The only real football schools left with adidas are Michigan, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. Especially with the rise of these AAU like organizations like Core 6 and Maximum Exposure in football, I think shoe companies could start to play a bigger role in college football.
January 31st, 2014 at 4:00 PM ^
Ahem . . . what makes you think we are not a basketball school?
January 31st, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^
It's worked for Oregon. Oregon is Nike, Nike is Oregon.
I kid, I kid...kind of.
January 31st, 2014 at 11:51 AM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 12:50 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 3:13 PM ^
Do you suppose MJ's son wears Hanes under his Nike's?
January 31st, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^
This is just false. The only and I will say ONLY school that I believe gets impacted by apparel in a significant way on the recruiting trail is Oregon (hehe Oregon trail). If you want Michigan to move in the direction of Oregon, go ahead, but I have absolutely no desire for Michigan to wear 15 different jerseys per season. Some may hate the current alternate jerseys (none this season), but it's nothing like Oregon. It works for them, but not for Michigan.
For those of you who actually still believe a recruit selects a school based on an apparel company, how about considering this - with the money Adidas pays Michigan, they can invest in all sorts of different things. All those renovations at Michigan do not come for free. Adidas did not fund all of them, but they certainly helped. So people would rather take "cooler jerseys" over better facilities and resources for the athletes? For me, the choice is obvious and to 99.9% of recruits, I think the choice is pretty obvious as well.
January 31st, 2014 at 12:03 PM ^
Nike has a clear advantage in recruiting. Shoe companies have a huge role in recruiting especially basketball where they sponsor AAU teams and coaches. I have a feeling this is going to spread to football now with the growth of these 7-on-7 football tournaments. Nike for the most part dominates the AAU scene right now
It's why I pointed out above that most of adidas' large contracts are with basketball schools. That is not a coincidence. I think adidas has a lot more invested in basketball than football right now.
Please read: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/18482120/muhammads-choice-a-shoein-for-adidas-school-ucla
January 31st, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
So because a single recruit (who massively underachieved) was partially influenced by a shoe company, that's the overall trend? Mitch McGary came to Michigan largely due to the facility renovations. In fact, you can tie a huge hunk of Michigan basketball's rise on the recruiting trail to the facility renovations.
January 31st, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^
Try again. Read the whole article. It's not about Shabazz Muhammad.
January 31st, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^
I did read the article. They just blindly listed off some names of elite recruits Coach Cal had landed and tried to link them to Nike relations. I can do that too. GR3, McGary, Zeller, Irvin, and Ferrell all must have selected their schools based on Adidas relations. You know what, Booker must have picked Kentucky because they have Nike. How could he possibly have two different shoe companies in his top group?
Ok, enough ranting and let's be serious about it. As I said before, I have absolutely no doubt that shoe companies are a factor. Kids surely want to look cool, but does it have a significant impact on the recruiting process? I highly disagree. The most important categories that determine who you get are the performance of the program and your facilities. If the shoe companies were that significant, Nebraska should have been in the race for Muhammad and if they were that significant, how was Kentucky even in the race at all? For 99% of recruits, they are not going to select their school based on the shoe company. Maybe it plays a small role, but for the massive majority of recruits, it is not the deciding factor.
January 31st, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
and why I linked it. You have twice now misinterpreted what the author is talking about. The author (who is pretty well respected in college basketball circles) was pointing out that Muhammad picking UCLA because of adidas was not a big deal like some people were making it out to be at the time as the influence of shoe companies is widespread in college basketball. The reason it made news was because usually adidas is the one that loses out on these high profile prospects and the fact Calipari lost out on a highly rated recruit. The reason he lists all those Calipari prospects was not to link them to Nike but to show how successful Calipari has been recruiting prospects in the late period which was when he was recruiting Muhammed. The prospect he does link to Nike was Anthony Davis who pretty much won Kentucky a National Championship and was the #1 overall draft pick, just another underachieving player who made no difference again. I don't think anything I post here is going to change your mind as it seems you are completely fixed on your view despite evidence to the contrary.
Of course, shoe companies are not the only reason a prospect will choose a school. But it is one of the factors in play and you can't ignore that. Nike is the dominant player, and the schools that are contracted with them have an edge in that area. That does not mean a school like Michigan can't overcome it, but why play at a disadvantage when the margins between winning and losing can be small. Comparing Nebraska with Kentucky and Kansas is comparing apples and oranges. Compare Kentucky, Duke, UNC, Syracuse, UConn, MSU, Florida and OSU basketball (Nike) with Kansas, UCLA, Louisville, Indiana, and Michigan basketball (adidas). And this is a sport that looks like adidas is heavily invested in. How do you think it will affect football where adidas is not heavily invested? The gap may be even wider in football where adidas is nowhere near the player that Nike is.
Shoe companies have an effect, and it is bigger than you make it out to be. For example, AAU coaches control what tournaments the teams play in and sometimes what universities their prospects visit on college tours. Hypothetical: How would you feel if Core 6 attended OSU & MSU camps and avoided taking their kids to Michigan because they were affiliated with Nike? You don't think that would have an effect? Little things like this happen.
January 31st, 2014 at 2:37 PM ^
You're contradicting youself. First you say that shoe companies impact ingrecruting is false. now you say that it is a factor. No one is arguing that every recruit's decision is solely based on the shoe company.
Let's set aside the major football powers for now. Other college football programs without large budgets and product-only contracts with Nike still align themselves with Nike because of Nike's strong brand influence. in their recruiting pitch, they do play up the fact that they have nike prouducts. The major football powers will have other factors like facilities, education, tradition that should trump the logo on the shoe, but for some recruits, it's still a factor.
Another aspect that is not being discussed is that these shoe companies can help build the school brand. Oregon would not be where they are without Nike's help. Notre dame jumped to under armour with the expectation that UA will help market/build/maintain their brand. With a program like Michigan with so much tradition, we may not think much help is needed, but with so much competition, every little bit helps.
We want the University of Michigan football program to be sucessful, so for me the question isn't what logo do I want to wear for me, but what associations should Michigan make to bring the highest chance of success? Every detail matters.
January 31st, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 2:09 PM ^
yes.
in my line of work, i've spoken with college football players and in casual conversation they have said the brand did have an effect on their college choice.
georgia knows the brand has an impact and proudly displays the nike swoosh on their twitter page: https://twitter.com/footballuga
of course, not every recruit cares about the apparel/footwear brand, but to say it doesn't have an impact on recruiting is an uninformed statement.
January 31st, 2014 at 1:50 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 11:40 AM ^
It's not just you. I could not give a shit what apparel logo is on the jersey if I tried.
January 31st, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^
or they don't care. But all of this fake hooha when both companies are producing so much crap is ridiculous. I can still remember being introduced to the concept of consumer consciousness in a class at UM--this is the farthest thing from it.
People should read this, good piece that debunks a lot of this crap:
http://www.themblock.com/2013/05/why-adidas-isnt-as-bad-as-you-think.ht…
January 31st, 2014 at 3:31 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
January 31st, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^