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Arkansas State player refuses to wear Adidas shoes.

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JXC

JXC

17-4 since 2001
Indians' Nichols involved in footwear flap
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Associated Press
Posted: 5 hours ago

JONESBORO, Ark. - Arkansas State's leading returning scorer is sitting out because he refuses to wear adidas shoes, which Indians players are obligated to wear because of a school contract.

Jerry Nichols, a 6-6 outside shooter who averaged 9.6 points per game last year, has had two knee operations and said he was wearing Adidas shoes when he first hurt the knee. The school says Nichols has to dress by its rules.
"We have a contractual agreement with [adidas], and it's not any different than any number of other contracts with other schools. There is not any stipulation or any research that shows any shoes are worse than any others," Arkansas State athletic director Dean Lee told The Jonesboro Sun newspaper.
Nichols, who last year shot 41.8 percent from 3-point range, practiced over the weekend while wearing Nike shoes, placing tape to cover the brand's insignia. Nichols met with Lee on Monday, and Nichols was told to wear adidas shoes or sit. Nichols sat.
Nichols said he was wearing adidas shoes when he suffered a knee injury in 2001 while playing for Walters State Community College.
"I tore my ACL in adidas in junior college back in 2001, and I'm not comfortable wearing adidas," Nichols said.
Nichols has had two surgeries on his right knee, including one in late March following last season. ASU's basketball team wore Nike shoes last year but that contract has expired.
"Adidas shoes are part of our uniform," Lee said.
Lee said there is no room for compromise and that the school is obligated to put adidas shoes on the feet of athletes football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and track teams, along with several other sports.
"This is not picking on any one student athlete. This goes for all student athletes that are under that contract," Lee said.
Nichols said he may seek relief in court if the university does not change policy.
"If I have to miss this whole senior season for some shoes, why wouldn't I [sue]?" Nichols said. "I have done too much this summer, working out, staying up here all summer to waste a year. So if it has to come to a legal issue then I will."
ASU coach Dickey Nutt said he wants Nichols on the court, considering the team has its first exhibition in less than three weeks. "I need all my players to be at practice, but it's out of my hands. That matter is in the administration's hands, so I'm just referring all questions to them," Nutt said.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/5003038

It's all about money. It's interesting that a NCAA player, who is not being paid, has to wear a certain brand of shoe so the University can make it's money.
 
JonathanXC said:
http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/5003038

It's all about money. It's interesting that a NCAA player, who is not being paid, has to wear a certain brand of shoe so the University can make it's money.
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The shoes are being furnished to him for free. He's whining about an injury that happened four years ago, and he's blaming the injury on the shoes he wore, which is crap. He's only hurting himself by sitting out the season on his own. Averaging 9.6 ppg at a school like Arkansas State isn't exactly NBA-caliber, so he better get that degree...
 
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It probably is a lot of crap but I kind of like it. Sure, the kid gets the schollie, but between tickets, concesseions and tv the schools make a profit off of every player. The schoalrships were around long before the clothing contracts. So effectively they are making the kid serve as a walking billboard for Adidas while the school gets paid for it and he gets nothing extra.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not feeling sorry for anybody. But I think it would be an interesting case if the kid said "I want my share of the shoe contract if I am the one who is wearing shoes I don't even like." I could see something like that underming the entire 'cash for logo' approach.

Also, if I were Adidas I would have granted an exception right up front. Who wants this publicity?
 
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I don't know about Adidas letting him out for publicity reasons... I mean, he has to wear some brand of shoes, right.

That would be a PR disaster if this kid 'hurt' himself because of Adidas shoes and then switched to Nike and went on a scoring frenzy.

I do know that I wouldn't turned down a pair of free shoes, so maybe it's just like fcollins said.:tongue2:
 
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Of course the schools make money off the efforts of the athletes...that's why they give them free tuition, books, room and board, all althletic gear, etc. What gets me is the kid blames Adidas for his injury in 2001, but he's had at least one surgery since wearing Nikes...it ain't the shoes.
 
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i hated team shoes, putting everyone in one exact pair or evern 3-4 pairs never worked for me. i had narrow feet and would die. i was forced to wear them to games until i continually was spraining my ankle. i went back to my nikes and am usually fine. i feel sorry for the kid personally. i see both sides. the business side is obviou$, but the fact that running around on hardwood 15 hours a week for 6 months season in a pair of shoes that doesnt fit right sucks.
 
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1) Adidas should not be able to force a bunch of amateurs to wear their product with zero compensation
2) The player should be allowed to not wear them (there are big differences between brands interms of width, like jimotis said)
 
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jwinslow said:
1) Adidas should not be able to force a bunch of amateurs to wear their product with zero compensation
2) The player should be allowed to not wear them (there are big differences between brands interms of width, like jimotis said)
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1) No one put a frickin' gun to the heads of the Arkansas State staff. Adidas offered to furnish shoes at no cost to the team in exchange for the team wearing only Adidas, and Arkansas State agreed. Can't get any simpler than that.

2) You can't tell me that Adidas doesn't make special-sized shoes...it's not like they don't makes shoes for any other college/pro teams. The kid just doesn't like Adidas. News flash for the kid, "Life is tough".
 
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1) No one put a frickin' gun to the heads of the Arkansas State staff. Adidas offered to furnish shoes at no cost to the team in exchange for the team wearing only Adidas, and Arkansas State agreed. Can't get any simpler than that.
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I don't question any of that. I just find it interesting to follow how money is changing college sports and how things are evolving over time.

Kids have always gotten schollies as compensation for what they do. So what do they do? Play basketball and football for their schools?

That is how it started. But this is about selling shoes. When Oden goes to the NBA he will likely sign a lucrative shoe contract. However, next year Nike gets his services for next to nothing. The compensation provided to a school like OSU goes far beyond the cost of the shoes. The school gets money, the company sells shoes, and the kid who provides the service gets a free pair of sneakers. The shithouse lawyer in me would love to take on an issue like this.
 
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Oh8ch said:
When Oden goes to the NBA he will likely sign a lucrative shoe contract. However, next year Nike gets his services for next to nothing.
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True, but Oden doesn't get to appear in Nike (or any other) TV commericials, magazine ads, etc., while at Ohio State either. The players don't get paid that boat-load of money for simply wearing a company's shoes in a game, but much moreso to flat-out endorse them.

And this kid at Arkansas State ain't no Oden...
 
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http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/8987697

Adidas: Arkansas St. player doesn't have to wear our shoes

Oct. 20, 2005
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports
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JONESBORO, Ark. -- Adidas said it will not require Arkansas State basketball player Jerry Nichols to wear its shoes, but hopes that he will accept an offer to look through its footwear collection in an attempt to find a suitable product.
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"We're going to meet with him and try to reach a solution," Kelly Olmstead, a spokeswoman for Portland, Ore.-based Adidas, said Thursday. "But we're not coming down there to tell him that he has to wear our shoes."
In a university press release, Nichols apologized to the team's fans for "all the confusion that was caused in this process."
"I'm very proud to be a part of this university," Nichols said. "I'm also thankful to Adidas. Finally, I want to apologize to my teammates and coaches for the whole ordeal."
Nichols said he suffered an injury in Adidas shoes and wants to wear Nike shoes while playing for the Indians. Arkansas State has a contract with Adidas, and athletic director Dean Lee told Nichols he had to wear its footwear. Nichols has skipped practices since Monday.
Lee confirmed Thursday that Adidas had granted a waiver of its contract as it applied to Nichols, and Nichols only.
"He will be back (practicing) with the team," Lee said. "With this waiver from Adidas, he will be able to participate with Adidas-approved shoes."
Olmstead said Thursday that the dispute was between Lee and Nichols. She said the company would like Nichols to wear its shoes, and would try to accommodate him, but that Nichols' refusal would have no bearing on the Adidas-Arkansas State pact.
Arkansas State practiced Thursday afternoon but team spokesman Bill Bowen said he didn't know whether Nichols was in attendance.
Coach Dickey Nutt said he was hopeful that a new pair of shoes would bring Nichols back to practice. Nichols is the Indians' top returning player from last season.
"We're excited about that and we're hopeful that he will make the decision to wear that and that it's something that feels comfortable to him," Nutt said Wednesday.
Adidas was sending company representative Ginger Tivey to Jonesboro to meet with Nichols and hear his concerns.
"We're always interested in hearing from athletes about our products," Olmstead said.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2004-2005, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
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