A little more about factors in college recruiting

PTW has previously written about the X factors in college basketball recruiting but we came across some information in a Jonathan (Draft Express) Givony Sports Illustrated penned piece that we thought deserved greater exposure.

About various NBA teams waiting on foreigner draft picks currently playing abroad, Givony typed this (and much more) on Ricky Rubio:

"...Another factor to consider could be Rubio's contract with Nike, which expires in two years. The company has made no secret of its preference to see Rubio in a bigger NBA market than Minnesota, according to sources, and it will be interesting to see whether the dollars Nike throw into the equation sways things. His agent, Dan Fegan, just put the finishing touches on a $25 million contract with Reebok for John Wall, the presumed No. 1 pick in next Thursday's draft, and will likely be looking to make a similar splash for Rubio, who is already the most marketable player in Europe..."

With college recruits (almost exclusively the top level ones), it's very unusual for a player to be on a Nike-sponsored club basketball team while in high school and end up signing with a school wearing Reebok or Adidas shoes and clothing. Under Armour also seems to be making a move, or planning one, into this marketplace.

Here's a 2005 Sports Illustrated feature by Luke Winn on prepster Kevin Love and the 'battle' between Nike and Reebok for Love wearing a certain brand of shoes.

In Winn's article, he writes: "...Of his favorites, five are swoosh schools -- Arizona, Washington, North Carolina, Duke and UConn -- and the other two, Kansas and UCLA, wear adidas..." 

 

Love eventually decided on UCLA (meaning Adidas) after starting out earlier in high school as a Nike wearer. Winn's article details why the switch was made.

 

Remember Drew Gordon deciding on UCLA/adidas when most, if not everyone, thought he would go with Washington/Nike? That call perplexed most everyone because Gordon participated all through high school as a member of a Nike-sponsored club basketball team.

By the way, Gordon's decision was also a strange one on another level: Gordon is a run-and-jump athlete and a tough competitor who needed to spend greater time working on his specific basketball skills. No-nonsense Ben Howland is noted for tough, physical players -- hey, for the most part okay -- and preferring to play at a 'safe' speed while pounding the ball inside offensively. Most -- but not all -- of this description fits for Gordon but the young man definitely prefers running the court.

 

On the other hand, Washington employs a lightning blur type of offense, preferring to get up and down the court as if in a sprint race. It would have been a perfect fit for Gordon, although not necessarily for aiding in his developing some go-to moves inside. Lorenzo Romar relates to his players on a much different level than Howland does to his.

Ultimately, the personalities of Gordon and Howland clashed -- something seemingly inevitable -- and the former is now at New Mexico --notably a Nike-affiliated school. We have offered this before but worth mentioning again is that Lobo Assistant Coach Wyking Jones is coming off a stint as a Nike travel team manager. Let's just call that quite the bonus for a school that has a solid -- if spotted -- basketball history but is generally considered out of any of the great basketball landing spot vortexes.

Keep all this in mind when a player X -- one at a prominent level -- is transferring from one of the basketball powers and you have the highest of hopes that he will come to 'your' school or when high school player Y is mentioned in conjunction with 'your' school and you are wondering about the odds of success. 

Check the shoes.