http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4585723
A fight over the shoes Michael Jordan's son will wear at the University of Central Florida could cost the school as much as $3 million.
http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/04/06/j...is/#more-14617
Selected the University of Central Florida over Stanford and Iowa
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4585723
A fight over the shoes Michael Jordan's son will wear at the University of Central Florida could cost the school as much as $3 million.
Jordan wraped an American flag around himself at the Olympics - not to show his patriotism, but to hide the Reebok logos on the uniforms due to his deal with Nike. What tiny little bit of respect I had left for him after his "Republicans buy sneakers too" comment I lost then.
Obviously little Jordan has inherited his father's "I'm bigger than the program/team" attitude.
If I was in charge at UCF he would wear the team shoes or hit the road. This Jordan is not that big a deal.
I really don't blame Marcus. His father has his own shoe. Why the heck would he NOT wear them? If he wears adidas, he is effectively endorsing his father's shoe company's arch-nemesis. UCF is not going to lose any money. I think this is overblown. My guess is he will just have to cover the Jordan logo with tape. Players refuse to wear the school sponsored brand all the time, but none of them are Michael Jordan's son, which is the only reason we are hearing about this.
Didn't they know what shoes the school used before the letter of intent was signed? I've never gone through the recruiting system but I would think it would be a topic that might come up - especially if the recruit's father has his own line of shoes.
Regarding the Olympics, I thought it made Nike look bad that they wouldn't let MJ out of the contract for that brief a period of time. (Assuming Nike was approached on the subject.) They could have used it as a PR campaign - in the spirit of the Olympics and team unity, they released MJ from his contract for the duration of the Olympics.
Is Illinois a Nike School?
Marcus wore AJs in an exhibition game and Adidas announced they won't renew their contract with UCF.
Over/Under on how long before UCF announces a deal with Nike?
He needs to be a team player and wear the team shoes and stop complaining.
Someone posted a link to a podcast that featured Jay Bilas last week. The second half of the podcast featured a UCF asistant coach who went into a significant level of detail about the Marcus Jordan situation. He was adamant that they checked with Adidas before Marcus came to UCF and Adidas sad that they would be able to work something out. The coach did his best to take the focus off of Marcus Jordan because the school told him that he would be able to wear a Jordan shoe.
Of course, he also said that he didn't think the situation would compromise the school's relationship with Adidas... and that apparently isn't true. It will be interesting to see what happens next. It seems like UCF is an athletic program "on the rise" (to borrow a Duke football motto that turned out to be a misnomer), with two new venues and a huge student body. I would think that Adidas would want to figure out a way to make it work. I wonder if a Nike partnership is on the horizon.
I for one think this is absolutely rediculous. I mean come on, the kid knew that they were an Addidas school and yet still signed with them. If it was that big of a deal then he should have gone somewhere else. Most kids would simply be told "shut up and play" by the athletic department if they whined and complained like this. I dont think that just because he is Jordans son he has a right to do this. If the school caves to his wishes, they deserve to lose every game. That just sets a negative message to future recruits who might want to get the university to change something. Chances are they are going to get shut down and it will clearly show that the university cares more about the wishes of certain athletes than it does for others. Just lace up whatever shoe they give you and play ball kid, its an honor to be playing in the NCAA whether you are wearing Nike, Addidas, sketchers or sandals.
Apparently Marcus discussed this with the program before he committed. He let the staff know that wearing the jordan brand shoes was important to him and he was told it would be a non issue. One addidas got word he was wearing air jordans they flipped thier lid and made a huge example out of him. I feel bad for the kid.
I don't know what verbal assurances who made to whom before, but the news report this morning was that Marcus wore his Nikes in an exhibition game last night, and Adidas cancelled its $3M sponsorship deal with UCF.
http://content.usatoday.com/communit...-adidas-deal/1
I doubt it's over. Either Nike or Adidas will end up cutting a check to UCF. Maybe a little of both.