br30302004 Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 LeBron James, Nike and the University of Akron men's basketball program reached an agreement on a three-year contract, the university announced Wednesday.The Zips men's basketball team will wear Nike apparrel, including shoes, game uniforms, warmups. All accessories will all be licensed under the Nike and LeBron James ''LJ23'' Trademarks.The rest of the UA athletic program is under contract with Adidas through 2013.''I'm from Akron and the University of Akron is my hometown school,'' James said in a statement. ''Because of my ties to the Akron community, the University and coach Keith Dambrot it is important to me that UA is designated as a Nike/LeBron James LJ23 School. I want to be sure that coach Dambrot's guys look great head to toe.'' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdZip Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Link (Cleveland.com article) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 ''I'm from Akron and the University of Akron is my hometown school,'' James said in a statement. ''Because of my ties to the Akron community, the University and coach Keith Dambrot it is important to me that UA is designated as a Nike/LeBron James LJ23 School. I want to be sure that coach Dambrot's guys look great head to toe.''God Bless LeBron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootforRoo44 Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 ''I'm from Akron and the University of Akron is my hometown school,'' James said in a statement. ''Because of my ties to the Akron community, the University and coach Keith Dambrot it is important to me that UA is designated as a Nike/LeBron James LJ23 School. I want to be sure that coach Dambrot's guys look great head to toe.''God Bless LeBron.AMEN brother Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 I want to give out a huge THANK YOU to Lebron!You're the awesomest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apalmison Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Awesome, LeBron. Sign me up for one of the LJ23/UA Jerseys with "Marshall" on the back! BTW, LeBron would have OWNED the Lakers. Why is it that Boston teams keep winning s*it?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quickzips Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Can't complain about this at all. Just another step forward for this program. Man am I looking forward to the next couple seasons around here. Increased support from LeBron. A top-notch coaching staff. Better and better recruits every year. This program is going to have some special times in the very near future. Just glad to be a part of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippyrifle32 Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 I heard about this a while ago, but it's nice to see that it's official and not just a rumor. I really wish I hadn't read the comments to the story though. People that stupid spouting off makes me want to oh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZipAlumn Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 I fail to see why it is so important to be wearing Nike uniforms and wearing Nike shoes rather than Adidas. I have worn both Nike and Adidas (as well as Footjoy) golf shoes and I didn't see any difference in the way I played. Is Lebron going to pass up the "big bucks", obtain an NCAA exemption, and play 3-4 years for the Zips now that we are going to wear the same brand shoe that he wears? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAZipster0305 Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 I really wish I hadn't read the comments to the story though. People that stupid spouting off makes me want to oh... Unfortunately, the NE Ohio area is equally populated by Can't grads who are by definition stupid... Not everyone is worthy of being a UA alum. I can't say enough that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 I fail to see why it is so important to be wearing Nike uniforms and wearing Nike shoes rather than Adidas. I have worn both Nike and Adidas (as well as Footjoy) golf shoes and I didn't see any difference in the way I played. Is Lebron going to pass up the "big bucks", obtain an NCAA exemption, and play 3-4 years for the Zips now that we are going to wear the same brand shoe that he wears? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:The biggest thing it does is give our program a connection that can be recognized worldwide. People may not have heard of Akron, but they damned sure have heard of Lebron. It will be mentioned by broadcasters every time we play on TV, even more than it is now. I know we get sick of hearing it sometimes, but Lebron is the only real identifier we have on a national scale. It's not like we have a tournament run, or even an appearance, to talk about. We have no marquee players that are going to the NBA draft. It's Nike because Lebron has his contract with Nike. If he had it with Adidas we would likely have seen some special deal with them on top of what we have already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 ''I'm from Akron and the University of Akron is my hometown school,'' James said in a statement. ''Because of my ties to the Akron community, the University and coach Keith Dambrot it is important to me that UA is designated as a Nike/LeBron James LJ23 School. I want to be sure that coach Dambrot's guys look great head to toe.''God Bless LeBron.This quote got me stoked as well. I hope everyone realizes the magnitude of that statement and the sentiment behind it. Jeez, that sounded preachy - sorry. That one sentence is worth more in national publicity to UA than a decade's worth of advertising. This U has to take advantage of any connection we have with LeBron. Not only is he the most famous basketball player in the world, but the best as well (the Celtics - Lakers series really showed that IMHO.)Does anyone know when the new merchandise becomes available? New shoes, home jerseys, away jerseys, alternate jerseys, shorts, away shorts, alternate shorts, warm ups - where's my credit card; I want one of each!Screw THE Columbus State University! I'm from Akron, and so is my homeboy LeBron! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryno aka Menace Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 I don't know about the rest of you but I plan on buying a crap load of stuff to support sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Cool, now we're like Columbus State Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipseuph Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Cool, now we're like Columbus Stateif you notice in that article there is no quote from LBJ or any interview with him at all. it looks like he's putting his full support into Akron and letting the people at Nike take care of the people down south. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdZip Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 First step toward the 10,000-seat Nike Center? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipseuph Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 I just wonder what the beacon will write about this (if anything at all) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromdaBurgh Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Awesome, LeBron. Sign me up for one of the LJ23/UA Jerseys with "Marshall" on the back! BTW, LeBron would have OWNED the Lakers. Why is it that Boston teams keep winning s*it?! I GET FIRST DIBS.....I'll have him autograph it for you for $5.00 (one time deal only) HA HA! HA! Just make sure you don't tell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Does anyone know when the new merchandise becomes available? New shoes, home jerseys, away jerseys, alternate jerseys, shorts, away shorts, alternate shorts, warm ups - where's my credit card; I want one of each!I got my Travis Nike "throwback uni" at Porky's today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 I fail to see why it is so important to be wearing Nike uniforms and wearing Nike shoes rather than Adidas.Nike schools always have better merchandising than other brand schools. In fact, the uniforms typically look better. For a young high school kid looking at schools, this will matter and KD will draw better players because of it.Last year I went to the Winthrop game and they were a Nike school. Their uniforms looked great and look great on TV. They all had matching sweat suits and looked sharp. The Zips looked like a parade of hobos coming out of the dressing room with nobody wearing matching anything.Will this contract apply to football as well? The Zips uniforms could use an overhaul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 What size bowl do you use to trim that dome? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronad Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 No! The contract only applies to BB the rest of U of A athletics are under contract to Addidas until '13. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 What size bowl do you use to trim that dome?Ease up or I'll have Mr. Green Jeans get midevil on your ass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeaglet1 Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Mentioned again in the PD the other day during an interview with LeBron...Q: The University of Akron's men's basketball team is going to wear Nike/LeBron James LJ23 gear next season while the rest of the school's teams wear adidas. How'd you pull that off? A: Coach (Keith) Dambrot is a very, very, very close friend of mine. He definitely helped me get to the level I'm at right now. So I'm showing my appreciation.http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindeale....xml&coll=2(On the fourth page of the article) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippyrifle32 Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 akron looking mismatched is not the fault of having adidas gear. it is the coaches fault for not making the team all look the same. personally, it doesn't matter to me. each guy likes wearing certain things when warming up. also something that was mentioned to me once was that nike does their uniforms in true colors. so osu's scarlet is red, oregon's gold is yellow, etc. i'm sure they'll figure something out though because our athletic department has made a real effort to use a gold instead of piss yellow or dehydrated dark piss yellow. it would look bad for our mbball team to come out with god awful gold that completely clashes with the gold theme we have going with the rest of the athletic teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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