Iowa players embrace the basketball shoe culture

IOWA CITY — There was a day a few years ago when Iowa men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery walked into a room where his son Connor and his Iowa Barnstormers teammates were hanging out.

Everyone was on their phones, he said, which isn't all that unusual in the current era of smartphones, but this time it was all for the same purpose: shoes.

McCaffery recalled with a chuckle how Connor and his friends were trying like crazy to order a new edition of a Nike shoe that was released that morning. Only a certain number are released on opening day, and that means people across the country all were trying to order them at once.

'They kept trying over and over,' McCaffery said. 'I was thinking, 'Wow. Is that shoe that much cooler or better than the other Nike shoe you're presently wearing?' It's interesting how they've become interested in that.'

The shoe culture in basketball started decades ago — anyone alive in the late 80s/early 90s remembers the Michael Jordan/Spike Lee commercials — and there's an entire ESPN 30 for 30 dedicated to its roots, which tells the story of Sonny Vaccaro and his marketing skills that helped spur the billion-dollar industry's tremendous growth in the 1980s.

But while it had its roots then, McCaffery — as a coach and father of these young men who are so into shoes — said, 'it's always been a big deal, but it's become a much bigger deal in recent years. It's become an obsession.'

Iowa has an equipment and apparel contract with Nike, which was originally agreed to in 2004 and has since been amended and extended in 2008, 2010, 2014 and again in August 2016.

In the exclusive agreement for all Hawkeyes sports, the university gets $350,000 per year in base compensation through 2025-26, while being supplied with more than $3 million worth of product (retail value) each of those years — ranging from $3 million in 2017-18 to $3.6 million in 2025-26.

For basketball, McCaffery has a personal stake, receiving $150,000 per year through the life of the contract from Nike, and has a potential bonus of $25,000 for a Final Four appearance and $50,000 for a national championship.

Under the terms of the deal, men's basketball receives $40,000 per year in wholesale value for uniforms, shoes and practice gear, $20,000 per year in retail value for product used for marketing purposes, $20,000 per year in wholesale value for camp merchandise and $20,000 in NikeByMail value.

That, among other things, buys several pairs of Nike shoes for the basketball team. McCaffery offered another laugh when asked if he was the kind of coach who cared about which shoes his players wore. They're allowed to pick the line of shoe and edition in that product order, and McCaffery said he couldn't really care less which ones they pick.

'Everyone has different tastes, likes and dislikes,' McCaffery said. 'Whatever you like to wear, that's what you wear, and enjoy it. Play well.'

The Nike contract allows the players to wear whatever shoe they'd like for official basketball activities, as long as it's within the Nike network. That means Jordan brand shoes are allowed, but if players at Iowa want to get them or wear them in games, they're buying the shoes with their own money.

The obsession McCaffery mentioned is fed in part by the availability of those shoes to the school from Nike, sure, but also because of the vast options afforded any basketball player.

Nike has specific shoes for Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Paul George. Jordan brand has 31 different editions of Air Jordans, and shoes specific to athletes it endorses, including Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook. All those lines have multiple editions, as well, leaving hundreds of options.

Most players know them all, too.

Tyler Cook was referenced by his teammates as the biggest shoe nerd on the Hawkeyes, supplanting Peter Jok. It was not uncommon for Jok to change shoes at halftime of a game — either for superstitious or fashion purposes.

Cook and Cordell Pemsl have the most shoes on the team, they said. Cook said he has '15 or 20 pairs here at school and another 15-20 at home.' Pemsl said he has 'probably close to 20 or 30 pairs of Nikes,' and '10 pairs of Jordans.'

McCaffery said he's never encountered a player who approached him wanting to wear adidas or Under Armour, for example, at Iowa. He was backed up by his players, who this summer at the Prime Time League gave widespread support of wearing Nike or Jordan — because most of them have been since youth.

The players are allowed to wear whatever brands they want away from the basketball facility, so if you see a Hawkeyes player wearing Under Armour sweatpants or one of those new 'Iowa vs Everybody' adidas shirts the Iowa Barnstormers AAU team is selling, they're not breaking the rules. Some players came from high school or their AAU teams with adidas, as well, as is the case with McCaffery's son Patrick, who wears adidas on the Barnstormers.

Still, Cook, Pemsl and others said even if given the choice, most stick with Nike.

Jordan Bohannon pointed out the only time that gets tested is if a well-known player has a shoe that looks good. He cited Stephen Curry's Under Armour shoe as one that would fit that bill for some.

The current wave of obsession has a lot to do with the role models young players have in current professional stars. Their fashion sense has a trickle down. And that's a lot of what this boils down to. The differences in performance with the shoes are minimal.

'It's really not different (on the court),' Pemsl said. 'Maybe one's more narrow, the sole is maybe bigger or something like that. It's more fashion. It's about the style. There's a certain look everyone tries to have now. Shoes are always going to be a big one. I feel like that's never going away. I think fashion over the last four to eight years, especially now, everyone is crazy with fashion in the basketball world. I think guys see guys in the NBA and see what they're wearing with exotic outfits and everyone wants that.'

The most popular line of shoes among the Iowa players seems to be the 'Kobe' shoe, which Bohannon, Isaiah Moss and Ahmad Wagner all specified they preferred. Pemsl said he prefers the 'KD,' while Cook wasn't able to make a preference, saying, 'I've hooped in Jordans and Nikes, but I like hooping in the Air Jordan XIIIs, I like the Vs, I like the XIs, so it's tough.'

Christian Williams plays in Jordans at times as well, joined by Moss and a few others. Bohannon gave them a hard time following one day at PTL, saying the weight of Jordans is too big a factor, and that 'they're big guys, so they're not cutting as much.'

Bohannon also leads the way in being superstitious about his shoes, too.

'I'm a low top guy,' Bohannon said. 'I've always worn Kobes. If I'm not wearing Kobes, I'm usually not having a good game. I'm really superstitious about it.'

Of course, not all the players are obsessed. Bohannon and Wagner are on the easygoing side of things, where they have a few pairs and get a kick out of their teammates putting their limited resources into shoes.

But there's no denying they're in the minority. And even Wagner, who said 'I really don't care,' what kind of shoe it is, acknowledged why the culture exists — and why millions of young players huddle around their laptops and phones when the newest shoe is released.

'On the court, you want to look good,' Wagner said. 'You never want to look bad. Look good, feel good; play good. That's always a good motto.'

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