Sorry if this has already been posted, but it sounds like Ohio will sign/has signed a contract with Adidas. Huge upgrade IMO.

Also, why is it thought to be a huge upgrade?

Been waiting for this ...it is about the bucks....and recruiting ....and image

We were an adidas school when Tommy took his unofficial then Russell came. I have a few shirts with the Adidas logo on them but this is a much welcomed and well timed change. I am not such a fan of the shoes but they are solid and should help with our injury pic more than the present Nike collection. UA was my fave for the takeover but now we will have the funky unis worn by Louisville, Cincy, Wisky, ND and others with the wild graphics and colors. Sounds good.

Meh...Adidas has lost a ton of key schools the past few years -- off the top of my head: Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, Tennessee and (coming next year) UCLA -- and they've fallen well behind Nike and now UA as well. Beyond the college ranks, they're losing the NBA next year to Nike, too.

Russell's retail offerings for fans are almost non-existent, so maybe this will help in that regard, but in terms of on-field/court stuff for our teams, I'm not doing backflips if that's where we're headed.

Adidas apparently still has 9 P-5 universities. More in the Sun Belt than anywhere else in the G-5.

Serious question(s): Other than the shoe quality (which I understand), what is the difference between apparel companies? Why does it matter?

As a parent of two basketball players, I can tell you that the apparel contract is noticed by teenagers. I coach basketball and our school has the need for new uniforms this season. Our old uniforms are Under Armour. Last year, we purchased a lot of Nike stuff (travel suits, backpacks, shooting shirts, polos, etc.) for the kids. Since we aren't tied to one brand, I had the sportswear vendor bring in samples of Under Armour and Nike for this year's purchase. I knew adidas wasn't going to be liked, so I didn't even look at them.

I was surprised at the difference in quality between the two brands. Nike is strong at the top end (Elite), but the mid-range gear was not as high quality as UA was at that price point. I thought if the prices and quality were similar, I'd let the boys choose what we bought. Going into it, the kids wanted Nike and saw UA and adidas as undesireable alternatives. Once I had the samples and the pricing, they chose Under Armour for everything. I placed a $10,000+ order last week.

Our high school just signed an exclusive deal with adidas. The kids are not happy about it because they do not like the brand. I was surprised, however, that they all seem to like the Andrew Wiggins shoe they're getting better than the Nike team shoe they had last year.

Every company has high quality items at the top of their line, which is what colleges get. Nike has the strongest brand recognition and has the edge in shoes. I like my Russell gear with Ohio logos on it, but I don't own a single item of Russell without the logo. My kids would make fun of me if I did.

30 kids in the program. 15 on the 6th grade team, 15 on the 7/8th grade team. We had to purchase 60 uniforms (15 home, 15 away for both teams) and travel gear (jacket, pants, shooting shirt, backpack) for all 30. We also had to replace basketballs ($50 each) and some other misc. equipment. When I took over the program, we had 7 year old uniforms that were falling apart. We got through last season, but they're junk now.

The money is raised by two large fundraising events. We do a shoot-a-thon where the kids go out and solicit donations for each FT they make. Last year, we raised over $4,000. We also host a large holiday basketball invitational for the local elementary schools on seven nights between Dec 15th and Jan 2nd. We raised almost $9,000 last year. I also wrote a grant to a regional foundation to obtain a Dr. Dish shooting machine to help the training and development of all the boys that live in our neighborhood. I don't ask the kids or parents for any direct funds. I only ask them to all help raise the money and run the tournament.

Our school is in the most economically distressed area in the region. Many of the boys live in foster homes, and most don't have extra funds to buy basic basketball equipment. During the season, their team issued gear is the nicest outfit many of them have in their closet. I have leveraged relationships I personally have in our business community to help teach the boys how to raise money. Our community has been so generous and they really want to help us use sports to make a difference in kids lives that desperately need something good to happen to them. I'm hoping to bring the team to the Convo this season for what would be the first college game for 80% of them.

In the past 12 months, we have raised almost $20,000. We have brand new uniforms for the first time in a long time, nice equipment and money in the bank. I wish I could do more for them, but we are bound by pretty strict rules similar to the NCAA. They're at least learning the value of hard work and have use of the stuff while they're on our team.

Great stuff 695.

I will say that getting to go on a trip to a college basketball game with your team is a great and memorable time. Your kids won't ever forget it.

+1 on the like button.

One more example of what's wrong with organized athletics. Why go we give a rat's ass about which apparel brand we're aligned with? I played high school basketball in Chuck Taylors and never gave my shoes a second thought. Our high school unis were about 10 years old and I was still damn proud to wear mine.

It's amazing how screwed up our priorities are.

Now.... that is funny. Better than the get off my lawn comeback

Couldn't agree more SBH. Good old Chuck Nolte in his first year at East had us switch to Pro Keds. They lasted two weeks and we all headed downtown to that sporting goods store on East Market to buy white Chuck high tops for $11.50 a pair. Thanks for the post. I wanted to say the same thing but didn't want to get the old "get off of my lawn" response.