Would Self Be Able to Recruit More Talent and Depth, If Self and KU Shifted from adidas to Nike?
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Put another way, would Self and KU likely be able to sign more highly ranked incoming freshman, especially at 1and 5 positions, in most recruiting classes, and so have fewer “needs” most seasons needing to be filled by transfers, if Self and KU CONTRACTED with Nike, rather than adidas?
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@jaybate-1.0 If that were the case…why would we not sign on with Nike…even if Adidas pays more? Wouldn’t the benefit of getting better players offset the decreased revenue from the contract?
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I’m of two minds on this issue. My first issue would be where would KU be in the pecking order for Nike?
My second issue would be are we talking short term or long term here? Short term, Nike would be preferable even if KU is 4th or 5th in the Nike chain. Long term, I think Under Armour might be a better option. American company who’s putting emphasis on basketball right now. There’s also much room to grow and KU would likely be the face of UA college basketball with UCLA. KU would be 4th at best with Nike behind UK, Duke, UNC, and possibly Oregon for funneling players.
I don’t like Adidas long term because soccer will always be their top priority with them being a German based company. I’m fine with Adidas short term because KU is their flagship program.
If Nike would bump up KU to #2 after Coach K abd Roy retire, I would jump to Nike ASAP, otherwise I think Under Armour is the better long term option for KU to become their top program.
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I wonder… perhaps we become another revolving door team like UK if we switch.
I’m not sure Self wants a revolving door team. If he doesn’t, but top shelf talent wants to sign with Kansas… can he refuse? Of course he can… but wouldn’t that hurt us immediately and also put into question his strategy?
I think going Adidas keeps us from that. It seems like we get a few of the very top shelf players who maybe even prefer Adidas.
I’m sill not sure how much of an impact it has on recruits’ decisions. In the least, there are a lot more Nike events between high school and college. It seems like Nike schools have an edge for that reason alone.
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I would think the huge sums adidas reputedly pays Self and KU could compensate, since TV monies and gate receipts are already maxed regardless of which brand were contracted with.
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Your analysis is the best I have read over the years for the simple reason that you articulate the gradations of trade offs to be considered.
There are a constellation of benefits and costs to be considered with any brand.
Apparently, Nike offers the best path to win rings, since Nike and Air Jordan teams win ALL the rings under the current regime since 08 and dominate the Final Four.
Apparently adidas offers an excellent cash benefit and enough access to talent to win conference titles but not rings, or to operate without increasing numbers of transfers.
adidas appears to treat KU as its premier program, and one can only wonder where KU might rank in Nike’s pecking order.
I suspect there are many more factors at play.
KU fans need to become as knowledgeable of the cost-benefit calculus operating as possible, so they can judge whether KU is maximizing its potential, or falling far short.
We know leadership almost always says it knows best and is making the best tradeoff possible, but we also know from experience in all paths of human endeavor that leadership is almost always biased by the net benefits it is receiving and so not a wholly reliable judge of its own performance.
Thus, KU fans should never solely rely on the opinions of its coach, AD, and Chancellor in matters of what is best for KU BASKETBALL. We fans, fickle though leadership accuses us of being, when they are defending their performances and paychecks, are frankly far more objective, and devoted to KU Basketball over the long term than are coaches, ADs and Chancellors. They come and go. We remain. They get pay checks and other benefits that can bias their judgements, even with them having the best of intentions. We don’t.
What we fans lack, that they possess, is insider knowledge, which is often witheld from us, and professional expertise, which we cannot expect to have, or we might be the coaches, ADs, and Chancellors. And to paraphrase Self, if you’re at a place like Kansas, you should win.
So: KU fans must become as knowledgeable, as possible, in what is and is not feasible in net benefits regarding winning rings at KU, before they accept, or reject, that the best is already being done, or not.
If we don’t, we are letting down THE LEGACY.
Why can’t we win rings as frequently as other elite majors and recruit sufficient talent to avoid such numbers of transfers?
What can be done to win more rings and recruit sufficient talent to avoid so many transfers?
What would the costs and benefits be to KU BASKETBALL of achieving these objectives?
Should they be borne, or is this the best trade-off probable?
Rock Chalk!
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I notice that the revolving doors at the elite majors contracted with Nike and Air Jordan appear to have slowed down some with the shorter stacks, and yet they appear still not to have to rely on as many transfers as KU.
I still am not sure shoe contracts are the sole driver either.
There still seems to be some unexplained dynamic involved to me.
I keep coming back to and wondering about the role of agents, because talk of agents has appeared to suddenly and inexplicably fallen almost entirely off the radar screen of mainstream media.
But who can say right now?
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@jaybate-1-0 Hmmmm. Once someone admits that KU would do better with Nike, that solidifies that they, by consequence, would do worse with Adidas. Am I reading that correctly? And if they would do worse with Adidas, does that not essentially help prove your underlying and longstanding theory? Nice play.
@Texas-Hawk-10 Bingo. Go with Under Armour. It’s the strong future move.
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Well, I’m with Dslayer
I have decided I like the perceived underdog status as compared to the Big Nike 3. If one is a U.K. Or NC fan, you get a ton of revolving door players, and let’s face it - only one way to go -down, because you are expected to win or final four pretty much every year. Adidas may make us have to be more resourceful, more creative, and Self has to coach hard to overcome fast twitch one or 2 year recruits who will pile up at the big Nike 3.
We have become transfer U because Self is looking for that edge. We are innovators, we are clawing and scraping to stay competitive.
We are unique. We are not a Nike-greased NBA feeding system like the big three. We are Kansas. The trick is to embrace what we have, who we are, and stop thinking that a Nat Championship is The Whole enchilada, and the sole reason for KU basketball. Think of the guys we have had the immense pleasure of seeing for 3 or 4 years… the great games, the energy, the love, the feeling of being part of something special and great. we will win a NC at some point… but enjoy the journey until we do. No one gets to the end of the line here on gods green earth and thinks, looks at all the awards and accomplishments I have seen or done… they realize that’s is about relationships and connection to those people and things they love.
We are Kansas basketball and it is a beautiful thing
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@jaybate-1.0 I would say Hell effing yes. I’m loyal to Adidas. Hell, when I go out and buy a pair of running shoes, I will get Adidas before I get Nike and before any other brand. I mean I actually like the way Adidas fit my feet better than the others but still, I like the brand since it is associated with KU. BUT, should KU switch contracts when the current one expires? Yeah, I would bet they get more recruiting “dumptrucks” backing up to AFH. Id bet the house on it.
Id like to addend this by saying if KU does switch to Nike contract at some point. KU wouldn’t have to solely rely on OAD players like Kentucky and Duke are at the moment. KU would have the lions share of who ever they want, when ever they want. Coach Self is a better coach and mentor that Coach K and Coach Cal. He can keep his same strategy of developing 3 and 4 year players to give experience and depth to his 5 star OAD talent. He wont need to reload with 7-8 mickey D’s talent every season. Give Coach Self a solid supply of 3 or 4 top 10 talent OADs mixed in with solid career players at KU like Frank Mason and Perry Ellis and KU/ Coach Self could easily beat John Woodens streak of National titles in a row. Of course this is my opinion only. I have no data to back that up.
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Roy (UNC) just won NC with no superstar, and a more blue collar team able to win a grinder, than any team he’s ever had. So much for the Nike revolving door, or call it an ‘outlier’. Also, didnt Louisville win a NC just a few yrs ago? (Adidas school).
That all being said, Nike/AirJordan would get us more top20 kids, if thats what you want.
Finally, the difference between Nike’s outfitting KU’s major sports only, vs Adidas outfitting all KU sports teams, is very negligible, compared to the entire KU Athl.Dept budget. That couldnt have been the only reason for the switch. There’s more to the adidas decision than the public reason given.
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Per Forbes magazine, KU gets $6.74M per year from Adidas. Duke gets $4.25M, UNC $3.55M and UK $3.53M per year from Nike. Does anyone think KU would get more than any of these others schools? There is a reason why KU is with Adidas and not Nike.
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Presently, I am not even sure board rats view an elite major’s rising reliance on transfers from lesser majors and mid majors as a sign of recruiting decline; i.e., of Coach Self not being able to keep a D1 elite major roster full of highly ranked freshman recruits.
To me it seems patently obvious–Self is crapping out so often now on the OAD, 5-star, and maybe even 4-star recruits that he is finding better quality recruits in transfers from lesser majors and mid majors than he can sign among each year’s high school recruiting classes.
This situation astonishes me more each season, because Self has had an incredible 12-13 year run, sky high winning percentage, one ring, and induction into the College coaching HOF.
Self came to KU with a sparkling reputation as a great recruiter, not just a good one. As a young coach at Illinois, Self had signed three terrific players to one Illini team that might have been as good, or better than any three-player cluster he has signed at KU, an elite major, the last 3 seasons after he has acquired wide fame, emulation, and much-deserved respect.
Think back to Self at Illinois. To my recollection, he did not need to take a transfer from a William and Mary to fill out his Illinois roster to achieve sufficient depth to field an eight man rotation with two credible 9th and 10th men for injury situations.
I look at the guy on TV, and he still seems vigorous and smooth and at least as charismatic as Roy, Coach K, and Calipari.
Everyone is copying Self’s Xs and Os now. Calipari, Coach K, and Cal run the flipping weave and chop. Self has worked both ball screens AND 4 out 1 in into the High Low. Self seems the king of the Stretch 4, and, after Josh Jackson, the stretch 3, too. His guard play is state of the art! When was the last time you even read the words “Dribble Drive Offense” or “secondary break” in the media? Kentucky’s Princeton on Steroids and Roy’s running game now looks more like Self’s Carolina Passing offense with wrinkles than anything else.
And despite all of the above, Self has to fill out his roster at an elite major probably with more transfers from lesser majors and mid majors than Coach K, Cal and Roy combined!
So I look around and ask: what could possibly trigger this?
A thought flashed: could it be shoes?
So: I posed the question the way I did to see what others thought these days.
It might suggest some possible implications though.
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@JhwkSqdn
First, I agree that this past year’s UNC team did not seem to be as stacked with super players as Roy’s other ring teams at UNC.
And appeared to me that Roy won a ring playing in the way that you describe, but did so with a team and bench brimming with a greater number of more highly recruited players signed as freshman, than KU had, and as many, or more than the other teams in the Final Four had.
I recall thinking after seeing then play during the season that Roy probably had the best team in terms of physical talent and pieces needed for a champion. But I doubted Roy was still up to coaching them to a ring, given his ill health and the EASYGATE scandal and potential infractions hanging over the program.
Someone will no doubt correct me, but I don’t recall UNC having started two guards ranked as low as Frank and Devonte were before Self signed them. Frank was a Towson de-commit on the rise. Devonte was on the rise as a recruit, also. But I’m guessing UNC’s guards were ranked more highly as recruits than Frank and Devonte were.
I also recall UNC had a rotation of legitimate big men that were more highly ranked as recruits than Self’s, unless you want to call Josh Jackson playing out of position at 4 a legitimate big man.
Finally, I don’t recall UNC resorting to filling needs with three transfers to fill slots after this past season. Maybe they did and I missed it.
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In the end kids still have to want to end up in Kansas.
We can wow them with facilitates, History, an Elite Program, Passionate Fan-Base etc and in the end it cannot change the location.
It’s why KU spends a lot of money recruiting because its hard to overcome perception.
Would Nike help funnel some kids our way? I’m sure they would but is that how Self wants things done?
Doesn’t he want kids at KU that he wants, not because Nike says they will go there. We all know the “legal” behind the scenes stuff happens on the AAU scene. It’s hard to believe that many of these kids have handlers that influence their decision. I won’t be as naive to think Self is 100% clean and doesn’t get involved but I do think he likes to do things fair so maybe Adidas is the best way? We don’t seem to hear Adidas funneling all its kids KU’s way or Louisville.
I’d love to pick Self’s brain on what he thinks about the Nike/Adidas/Under Armour debate
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I know this thread is about recruiting, and Finance, but would the people who created these be designing the KU uniforms?
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Please understand that I am not arguing for changing shoe brands yet. Before we advocate for, or against, such a move, we need to understand if:
a.) changing shoe brands would help us win more rings; and
b.) would the negatives of changing shoe brands out weigh the positives in pursuing more rings through changing brands?
I don’t know the answers to these questions yet. Maybe others do, but I don’t yet.
You cite some possible negatives. I reckon there could be more possible negatives. I’m advocating for trying to figure out what those might be, so as a fan base, however small we are, we can express usefully informed opinions.
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@jaybate 1.0
“…since Nike and Air Jordan teams win ALL the rings under the current regime since 08 and dominate the Final Four.” Wasn’t Louisville with adidas when they won it all a few years ago? I don’t remember.
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Thanks!
Maybe the exception proves the rule?
Isn’t that incredible really?
Pitino and Self are at least as good, as Roy, and yet Roy gets the dump trucks, so Roy wins more rings.
Poor adidas. They have had KU, Ville and UCLA and can’t keep any of the three sufficiently stocked up to win a ring, since Louisville!
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@BeddieKU23 Agreed on location. For a lot of kids, it matters “WTH is kansas?”, while to others it doesnt, and they do look at facilities, tradition, coaching, etc. Playing time right away seems to be a major theme, and that hasnt changed. Or maybe, everybody is promising lots of mpg, so that then goes out of the equation, and the other parameters factor in.
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@jaybate-1.0 Perhaps the recruiting times have changed since the early 2000s, and even the mid-2000s–maybe that has impacted Self some. Also, BRush, RussRob, Chalmers, Shady…all those guys were recruited at the tail end of KU-Nike era. Maybe the shoe thing helped us, sort of, then. Self has also had bad luck with some recruits, like #1 PG Selby, who arrived snake bit by fate, & then didnt help his cause with his own decision making. Same for Cliff Alexander. Burns Illini with the hat-fake, then burns KU with the “yeah, I’m eligible” fake.
Self also maybe made a few mistakes with 5star recruits, such as EJ. The whole Brady-vs-EJ debates raged. Ever since then, Self seems very eager to play his frosh, even low-ranked frosh, to develop them quicker. See Mason and Devonte.
Also, cannot deny that the level of skill in highschoolers has improved, and again I’ll point to Mason and Devonte. As frosh, they were playable, whereas 10-12 yrs ago a kid in the 60s-70s would have best redshirted and developed for a year or two. Tyshawn also was play-able, out of necessity, so he’s an imperfect frosh example, but he arrived in 2009.
Tyshawn, Mason, Buddy Hield are great examples of 4yr players. Certain players do better with certain types of coaches.
I do think Self has evolved for the better compared to his much more rigid pre-2014 version. In everything. Maybe this is all good, as it keeps the professional challenge for him from going stale.
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@jaybate-1.0 UCLA is Under Armour starting July 1.
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@jaybate-1-0 I’m assuming you’ve also heard about World Wide Wes too? Really, Nike has won the game at this point. They can openly cheat better than anyone else. They have the resources and connections.
This link isn’t the greatest, but it does have a few sourced instances of World Wide Wes and Nike being very involved with the UK program.
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Thanks for sharing these links. I will read them shortly.
Here is an aspect to the shoe lore that that I am trying to gather some info on with little success.
I have a vague recollection of reading somewhere that World Wide Wes was actually an early pal of Larry Brown’s waaaaaaaaaaaay back, when LB was an assistant at UNC, or maybe later when he was an ABA coach. Whatever, it was before LB got to KU. I have this recollection that Wes started out working in a shoe store somewhere in New Jersey, or Long Island, where Larry either grew up, or where Larry went to high school to play ball.
Somehow Larry and Wes maybe have some recruiting connection and that Larry and Wes were reputedly associated later, when Larry was at KU.
Have you ever heard, or read, anything about this from anyone other than me?
I’ve forgotten where and when I learned about this, and so I cannot be certain I am remembering correctly at this point.
If you, or anyone else, have any sourced information on this, please post it to me. I would be grateful.
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Kcmatt7 said:
@jaybate-1.0 UCLA is Under Armour starting July 1.
I read this previously. You might even have called my attention to it the first time. it is very interesting to me that UCLA has made this move. Have you ever read any commentary or reporting about why UCLA made the change? I know UCLA has a very active Jewish donor base, and adidas is a German company after all, with some occasionally reputed checkered past dating to the WWII era. Maybe some of their donors have pressured them away from adidas. Or maybe UA and adidas just got into a bidding war and UA won. If you hear anything, again, let me know.
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I don’t recall ever reading anything, other than by you, of course, about a relationship between Larry Brown and Worldwide Wes…but I could be wrong.
UCLA has had a ton of talent in the last 10-15 years but other than the two Final Four appearances it has mostly underperformed.
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Agree that UCLA has wasted tons of talent, but its such a prestigious school and local talent in Socal is so vast in supply that it continues.
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@jaybate-1.0 I think in one of the links it mentions Larry Brown getting the SMU job because of WWW.
This one is the best read: http://www.gq.com/story/william-wesley-worldwide-wes-nba-basketball
This has another mention of how Wes was the mediator in Philly between Larry and A.I.
Probably the best quote:
"Which sneaker companies are courting you? "
"Reebok, Adidas, And-1.“
“And-1 is no good, and stay away from that three-stripe shit. Nike and Reebok are the best.”
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Interesting stuff, and to think it all started with Jordan and his Nike’s, soon becoming its own sub-brand. Probably for a while, especially in the 90s and early 2000s, truly the elite was UNC, with their Jordan-Carolina brand, he played for them, and they were/are a Jordan-brand school. Everybody else is chasing. Enter WWWes and his KY connections. But KY is still Nike. And Duke is Nike. Those are the 3 kings: UNC, KY, Duke.
If there’s any carryover mktg from a NBA superstar’s college days, then it may be worth considering as they pick their school choice. Their college mdse may still sell, if its a cool brand, and if they retain the same connection as a pro? Possibly?
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I wonder if it started earlier–pre Jordan–with just Dean and Larry and Sonny, then Dean, Roy and Sonny; then morphed big time with MJ.
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@jaybate-1.0 True. And who picked MJ to be the name and face; to kick off the shoe wars as we know it? What had he done? Or maybe his charismatic look and play made it a no-brainer from a mktg standpoint?
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@jaybate-1.0 Under Armour is paying UCLA $280 million over 15 years. Name a school that’s realistically turning a deal like that down?.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 Dang, I thought for sure that UCLA was a Nike school
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Only a school crazy enough to try to win a ring in a Carney.
This appears what happened with KU and adidas.
Take the money and fuggedabout winning rings.
Plan your season and recruiting to win conference titles, where asymmetric seeding paths and whistles won’t interfere.
Leave the rings entirely to random luck.
It will be years before your fans figure out what happened…maybe as long as it took for them to figure out the implications of Roy reputedly recruiting only half the country.
Everyone but the fans likely got what the compromise being made was, when schools signed non Nike.
Frankly, all non-Nike teams should drop out of the NCAA tourney and start a tourney for non Nike teams.
Non Nike teams should play teams of their own caliber.
We don’t have Baker play in D1. Baker plays in the NAIA.
Washburn probably plays in D2.
Non Nike teams should play in D1-B, or something.
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Ucla apparently would not be playing all those Gawky dorks in the paint, if they were a Nike team high in the Nike pecking order. They would appear not have to start the coaches son either.
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UCLA played 3 players that will go in the first round of the NBA draft and possibly a 4th player in the second round…and the coaches son was the second leading scorer in the team and averaged 15.5 ppg and shot 0.430 from the 3 to lead the PAC 12; he took 270 3 point attempts which also led the conference.
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You seem to be making my point. The UCLA talent on UCLA’s good year you describe seems sharply inferior to the talent on a good year of Duke, North Carolina, or Kentucky. Thanks.
Would Alford’s kid have started several seasons on Duke, UNC, or Kentucky? I kinda doubt it.
Would Duke, UNC, and Kentucky on their good years have as many players that wouldn’t pass the eye test Bill Self refers to, as UCLA on its good year. I kinda doubt it.
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You are spinning my words to make your point. My point was and still is that UCLA had superior talent which is the opposite of what you concluded. Not too many programs have 3 first round picks and likely 4 overall in the draft. Alford would have started most anywhere he played, he is a superior outside shooter.
Talent wise, UCLA had more talent than just about any team not named UK or Duke.
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No, you are spinning mine.
But I love it when you do it.
Its so fun to watch.
“@JayHawkFanToo You are spinning my words…”
This one appears a classic rhetoric I am adding to a dictionary of online discourse cracking rhetoric I am building.
Thanks.
You are who inspired me to build it.
Howling!
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I personally think its a bunch of crap. If it was as simple as Nike on board we would have Nike (I’m sure if we could come to that conclusion so could Self and co) , hate to remind ya’ll but we didn’t get a title in the years we were with Nike. Yes I know Nike holds a bunch of camps but so does Under Armor and Adidas, others too. Wigs and Jojo both signed with Adidas and are happy. UCLA all of the sudden is getting media out the a** with the Ball brothers and they just left Adidas to got to Under Armor. They have the 3rd rated recruiting class so I’m saying it doesn’t matter.
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Very well said and laid out. Nice post.
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Okay, enjoy how you wish to see it.
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@kjayhawks complete coincidence that Wigs and Jojo signed Adidas? Same with Tyshawn and Oubre? Just coincidence? Only guy under Self to sign Nike is TRob if I’m not mistaken.
But obviously that’s just pure coincidence.
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Nick Collison, Paul Pierce, Brandon Rush are KU players that signed with Nike and I believe there are others. Pierce and Collison might have been at KU while it was Nike.
Both Wiggins and Jackson played for Nike teams. Adidas Contract with KU is the same size as Duke and UK contracts with Nike…combined…
In my opinion, top prospects will go to the school that offers the most “benefits” or provides the best path to the NBA and location comes after that, with the Coasts having a big advantage over the Mid West. I have yet to hear a prospect say he went to a school because of sponsorship. Much better chance of a player signing with the brand that sponsored the school since they get to know the brand reps and the product.
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@JayHawkFanToo Recruited B-Rush while we were still Nike. Collison never played a game in an Adidas uniform and neither did Paul Pierce.
One of those “benefits” couldn’t be a potential (guaranteed) Shoe deal? It is also illegal to say you went to a school for a sponsorship deal… Is it not ironic that Wiggins had a well reported potential Adidas deal in line before he even stepped foot on KU’s campus? I wonder how he ended up here…
You also are missing the fact that Nike sells more gear at a higher price point, creating more profit for the school from selling licensed gear so they CAN offer less money. You don’t just sell the same regardless of who your brand is. Nike gear sells better. So just because KU has a better licensing deal, doesn’t mean we make as much profit. In fact, we made less of a profit than UK last year. So to say that our endorsement deal is SOOOOO much better than Duke or UK is 100% misleading.
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KU’s contract with Adidas kicked in on July 2005 and Rush committed to KU on September of 2005, when KU was already an Adidas school and long after the contract had been negotiated.
I did not say or even imply that a prospect would say he went to a school for a future contract. I said that I have not heard a prospect say he went to a school because it (the school) was sponsored by a specific brand which is perfectly legal. Actually, saying that you went to a school for a guaranteed deal is not illegal…it will likely get the NCAA to find you ineligible to play college sports, but it is not illegal. In fact, I did read that one mid-level prospect, whose name escapes me, said he would be inclined to go to a Nike school only to quickly backtrack and say he would consider all of them equally. Unless he received compensation from Nike, there is nothing preventing a prospect from stating that he favors one brand over the other.
Also, if you remember the talk about the alleged Wiggins contract that would be worth $180M for 10 years? That proved to be bunk and the contract he signed was for $2M per year., a far cry from the original number, wouldn’t you agree?
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Ok, you got me on Rush.
And you got me on a technicality on the word Illegal. Good job. I meant, he would be ineligible, not that he would get arrested. Which he would, if he had a sponsorship deal in place before hand and admitted that was the reason he chose a school. And just because the Wiggins deal was less than projected, doesn’t mean there wasn’t an arrangement beforehand. The amount is irrelevant.
Are you ignoring the profit that I pointed out or what? Because that was a major piece of my post. But, that doesn’t fit your narrative. So let’s ignore it… Fact is, Nike sells more gear. They don’t need to offer a huge contract to some schools. The increased gear sales head and shoulder’s make up for it. Kentucky made $4m more off of licensing last year than KU did. Thank goodness for our donor base or we wouldn’t even be in the Top 25 of college athletics revenue.
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The humongous difference between the alleged and actual Wiggins contract clearly indicates someone was pulling number out of his you know where with not link to reality.
I would be interested in seeing the source of the figures you quoted. Of course Nike sells more gear because it sponsors a heck of a lot more teams and it is a much bigger firm and advertises a lot more than Adidas.
Sales are based on who is popular at the time more so on the apparel brand. Curry likely sells more than anyone else and he is with Under Armor. Traditionally UNC has always been one of the top sellers but in '08, after KU won the title, it became the #1 seller and ahead of UNC.
Market also determines sales; KU is in a relatively small market and will have trouble competing with the Coastal programs with the huge markets. The market share that KU brings to the table is very small and Nike already has Texas and Oklahoma, the two big dogs, and just about evey program sorrounding KU including KSU, ISU and even MU. Do you really believe that if KU goes with Nike it would sell $4M more in merchandise than it does now? I don’t, KU fans will continue to buy about the same $ volume.
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Bryce Alford was a highly regarded player in NMex, very similar to Tyrel Reed in KS. His play at the D1 level, was very similar, although he played starter mpg, and his stats reflect it. This isnt to say he’s a shoe-in for a NBA roster, but he proved to be a much better player than Brady Morningstar…(it can be debated).
