I’m in awe this morning. Everyone is going nuts, upset at Marcus Jordan and dad Michael over Adidas dropping UCF in response to MRjr lacing Nikes last night.
(UCF readying for its ‘White’ Knight in Nike?)
But after talking to two prominent sports marketing execs this morning, all indications are that Nike will soon swoop in to save the day, picking up the UCF sponsorship that Adidas has abruptly vacated.
Brilliant.
Sure, the Jordans have taken a transient hit about Marcus’ refusal to wear Adidas, but think about the bigger picture for father and son.
Soon, UCF will be a Nike school, which will bring more prestige and likely help in recruiting. The Knights, largely anonymous as a basketball school before the controversy, are now firmly on the radar screen of the media and potential players.
And Nike corporate will soon come off as the white ‘knight’ by saving the day with shoes and apparel for all of UCF’s athletes. Not to mention tidy cash payments to the school and coaches.
Now for the conspiracy theory: What’s the odds Marcus Jordan’s signing with UCF was contingent on Nike picking up Adidas’ deal if the latter bailed? Not saying there’s anyting in writing, but do you really think the school would risk outfitting its entire sports program and cause coaches to lose thousands of dollars over the p.r. bump of inking a Jordan?
I have to believe there was some contigency in place between the school and Nike when Marcus signed with UCF, seeing as we now know he never had any intention of wearing Adidas.
11:51 am on November 5th, 2009
This pretty high on my list of sh*t I couldn’t care less about.
12:43 pm on November 5th, 2009
Who cares, this fool cant even afford Lasik surgery, and will NEVER sniff the bench of an NBA team.
Marcus heres my advice : take your last two yeras of child support from your cigar chompin, aston martin drivin, I love golf, girls and gambling far more than my own family, dad of yours…but it in a high interest money market CD and consider that an inheritance.
because by the time your dad dies in a hotel room in aruba with two strippers, their wont be one dime left.
As for ADIDAS, great move who needs UCF anyway…especially when you sponsor UCLA hoops.
1:54 pm on November 5th, 2009
Looks like Favre isn’t the only thing you hate. What an empty life you must have.
3:43 pm on November 5th, 2009
Does anyone know if this guy is any good?
5:46 pm on November 5th, 2009
No, he isn’t anything special. He was a pass first point guard on a really good hs team in Whitney Young, and a good team in Loyola. His brother, who’s at Illinois, was the better prospect imo. In truth, I could have been a pass first PG on the Whitney Young team, and had at least 8-10 assists a night.
If he starts, UCF must be really bad. I wonder how much they signed him because of the name recognition, and this whole thing was a marketing ploy, on several levels, but UCF.
5:49 pm on November 5th, 2009
He’s obviously wearing the specs because that’s his style. Somehow I’m sure he could get laser surgery if he wanted to. This is no different than the dudes who wear headbands, tube socks up to their knees, or even get tats.
However, I kinda agree with some of your speculation on Jordan’s future. The only difference is, he’s got a lot more income than most of the ex ballers who leave the game.