...the first time I realized how deep the sneaker companies were into amateur basketball was 1995. I read Slam magazine's summer wrap-up of how the top players in the nation performed at the top two camps: ABCD(Adidas) and Nike.
Why are sneaker companies holding a week long camp for the top recruits in the country - and why are the top players split among the two camps. What determined why Ronnie Fields attended the Nike Basketball Camp, and why Kobe Bryant attended the ABCD?
These same sneaker companies have schools that they're aligned with.
My question is, how much does the sneaker company influence the schools these player list as possible destinations?
I ask that because, if a ABCD/Adidas camp guys are only showing interest in Adidas schools, or ONLY going to Adidas schools, then evidence of that this shit going on has been in plain site for yeeears.
And yet, we STILL have people saying an education is sufficient exchange for being a collegiate athlete.
Thats odd, because those degrees don't guarantee you a job. Secondly, nobody else has to work four years before they're paid. Yet, those college coaches are getting paid while the player's payments - which isn't even stemming from their on-court work - are deferred. The schools don't have to wait to rake in money. Nobody has to wait, but the guys who are actually generating the revenue.
Why are sneaker companies holding a week long camp for the top recruits in the country - and why are the top players split among the two camps. What determined why Ronnie Fields attended the Nike Basketball Camp, and why Kobe Bryant attended the ABCD?
These same sneaker companies have schools that they're aligned with.
My question is, how much does the sneaker company influence the schools these player list as possible destinations?
I ask that because, if a ABCD/Adidas camp guys are only showing interest in Adidas schools, or ONLY going to Adidas schools, then evidence of that this shit going on has been in plain site for yeeears.
And yet, we STILL have people saying an education is sufficient exchange for being a collegiate athlete.
Thats odd, because those degrees don't guarantee you a job. Secondly, nobody else has to work four years before they're paid. Yet, those college coaches are getting paid while the player's payments - which isn't even stemming from their on-court work - are deferred. The schools don't have to wait to rake in money. Nobody has to wait, but the guys who are actually generating the revenue.
