Shoes do matter (this time with evidence!)

Submitted by Gr1mlock on

Sorry for another vaguely apparel related thread, but I recall the long, ongoing debate of "do kids really give a crap about what brand your school has", and found this article, and the quotes in particular, telling.  My read of it is that most of the time shoe brand is not THE deciding factor, but it is a major factor.  

 

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25…

MGoBoard

ChuckieWoodson

August 19th, 2015 at 12:50 PM ^

Personally, having the "jumpman" logo on football uni's will be a bit weird but I think it is pretty cool that it's only with the U right now and if it helps us with recruiting, jumpman away!

Joined: 01/13/2012

MGoPoints: 26136

The Mad Hatter

August 19th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^

was a star basketball player for Michigan in the early 80's.  He thinks that the switch to Nike, and the Jordan affiliation in particular, is going to be HUGE for recruiting.  He seemed as excited about it as he was when Harbaugh was hired.

He explained it by saying that the school's don't really give their athletes anything (he played before Martin was passing out $100 bills) as the NCAA rules prohibit them from doing so.

The one thing that the kids can get is gear.  A lot of it.  And since Nike (and Jordan) are far and away the most popular brand, he thinks that more than a few kids will be swayed to Michigan just for the swag.

Joined: 02/17/2015

MGoPoints: 112109

Dawkins

August 19th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^

To the doubters, tell me you can't picture a dumbass kid like Terrelle Pryor making a "pros/cons" list when deciding between Michigan and Ohio State, and including "Nike v. Adidas" on that list. The fact is, it matters. Granted it's a stupid reason to choose a school, but 16-year-old kids are stupid (we all were at that age). And you're full of crap if you say you'd rather not have a kid on the team if the team's equipment brand is that important. You'd root just as hard for Rashan Gary if he came here because he wanted to wear Jumpman. 

As for whether the equipment actually causes an athlete to perform better, there's an often dismissed, but very real, psychological aspect to equipment, beyond the physical aspect. There was once a burlesque show director who was asked why he paid thousands of dollars to dress his dancers in expensive french underwear despite the fact that the undergarments would never actually be seen by the audience. His answer: "Because they (the dancers) know they're wearing them." People perform better when they feel confident. Its the same reason the Fab Five wanted to do away with the 1908s-style short-shorts and switch to longer, tendy, more baggy shorts. "Look, Fish, if you want us to perform our best, we need to be comfortable." --18-year-old Jalen Rose to Coach Steve Fisher. 

Joined: 05/24/2015

MGoPoints: 5799

GoWings2008

August 19th, 2015 at 1:14 PM ^

I think that the majority of your first paragraph includes a lot of things that its okay to think it, but not a good idea to put it into print where others can read it.  Probably not the greatest representation of the University of Michigan and its fanbase.  

Joined: 01/26/2011

MGoPoints: 69675

Rupertus

August 19th, 2015 at 2:04 PM ^

I read it as saying that recruits, such as Terrelle Pryor whom Michigan of course recruited once upon a time, often consider many factors when choosing their school and the school's apparel supplier may be one of them. Nothing unreasonable about that statement or the logic behind it. Maybe calling Pryor a "dumbass" is a bit much but for me it didn't obscure the point being made.

Joined: 07/02/2015

MGoPoints: 1018

bacon

August 19th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^

You know, maybe people aren't considering how hard it is for kids to make these types of decisions. To a highschooler, choosing a school could be a very abstract decision. They have offers from some pretty amazing schools and they may have little context for what exactly (outside of football) those schools and degrees mean for them. The coaches make a difference, so does playing time, but all this might be a wash too. So maybe they pick based on facilities, or location, but that only matters so much and are the facilities at one top notch school that much better than another? How does a recruit quantify that? Same with location, if you've nevet lived away from home, maybe nothing stands out. So what else do you have. Apparel is a tangible thing that kids know and want. They understand the value of one brand or another to them. I think in that context, it could have a more practical impact on their choice than people give it credit.

Joined: 01/04/2009

MGoPoints: 18646

Darth Saedd

August 19th, 2015 at 2:33 PM ^

As my join date and point total shows, I a long-time lurker but very infrequent poster(Lurking since '08 actually).  I normally do not post because of several reasons such as not attending UM, not understandin all the board lingo, and quite frankly because I don't have the best grammar or spelling(haha) amongst other reasons.  The few times that I do post is when I actually feel I may have some information or insight into the conversation.  I feel this is one of those occasions.

Of course shoes matter!  Of course being with NIKE matters!  And of course having the Jumpman logo is HUGE!  I am not a huge Jordan fan by any stretch but I have many friends who are fans and who have children that have been dressed in NIKE/Jordan apparel since they were infants.  Things like that stick with kids.  It also sticks with them when their uncles, siblings, cousins, and peers are all drawn to the same thing.  We have been immersed NIKE/Jordan for years to the point where I do not know anybody that is brand loyal to any other brand for athletic apparel other than NIKE.  Hell even all of my shoes are either NIKE(athletic) or Skechers(everyday wear or boots).

Long post being longer, while which shoe company supplies a program may not be in the top 5 reasons(or top 10 for that matter) a recruit chooses a school, I do think it would be naive of us not to think of this as a HUGE boon for this team/program we all love so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joined: 06/08/2012

MGoPoints: 353

LSAClassOf2000

August 19th, 2015 at 3:16 PM ^

This is what Harbaugh brings. Jordan himself apparently reached out to Michigan to suggest the partnership, which makes sense considering how Harbaugh has been out there in the world of pop culture. You think Jordan would have reached out to Brady Hoke? Hoke is so Adidas, and that wasn't enough at Michigan.

I somehow missed that, the part about Jordan reaching out to Harbaugh on his own. That's actually pretty cool and probably only adds to the base level of attraction where it concerns Michigan. I mean, there have been a few tweets posted here where some prospective targets have mentioned this specifically, so they were right about the immediate impact. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130610

WilmotCt

August 19th, 2015 at 8:38 PM ^

I'm excited about the return of Nike as the next guy, but....

I recall we recruited pretty well under Hoke, notwithstanding the logo on our unis.

Joined: 10/18/2012

MGoPoints: 93