Sole Influence by Dan Wetzel & Don Yaeger
Author:Dan Wetzel & Don Yaeger [WETZEL, DAN]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SPO000000
ISBN: 9780759521551
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2000-10-01T00:00:00+00:00
One of the selling points of womenâs basketball, one of the reasons more Americans, men included, are turning to the game, is its sense of purity. There is less taunting, prancing, and trash talking on the court. In its place is increased team play. Academic casualties are rare. The players are hardly ever thrown off the team for drug abuse, violence, or insubordination. The pro leagues, albeit young, showcase players who appear to be motivated more out of a love for the game than a love of their paycheck. It harkens back to a simpler time when menâs basketball was more about layups than lockouts, coach chokings, and Allen Iverson.
And so the courting of Chamique for a shoe deal had an eerie similarity to the wooing of Michael Jordan. Holdsclaw had no street agents, no AAU coaches who had latched on to her at age twelve, looking for a payout. She had no agent until her senior season ended and the NCAA said it was okay. The controlling Summitt made sure everyone steered clear until then. She had no preconceived brand loyalty. No closet full of skeletons. She would choose a company in the same above-the-board manner Jordan did, mainly because it offered the best business plan.
âWe think Chamique wants to wear adidas,â said Jon Dillon, an adidas representative who handles the companyâs contract with the University of Tennessee. âBut we know she is going to make her decision based on what is the best business deal for her. And thatâs good.â
Adidas felt good about its position in the Holdsclaw derby because she had been wearing its shoes since she arrived in Knoxville. The school had signed an all-sport endorsement contract with adidas in 1995, mainly because the company wanted a piece of the million-dollar business that the sales of UT merchandise has become. That is largely because of Tennesseeâs hugely popular football program, which on fall Saturdays packs over 100,000 Orange-clad fans in Neyland Stadium on the banks of the Tennessee
River. And adidasâ investment in UT was a good one. Not only did the Volunteers win the 1998 National Championship, but during the previous four years they starred at quarterback the likable Peyton Manning, who signed an endorsement contract with adidas before being selected number one by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1998 National Football League draft. But as a bonus came Summittâs powerful program, which captured three consecutive national championships from 1996 to 1998 and became the nationâs college basketball team, usurping UConn in popularity polls. And that also gave adidas the feet of Holdsclaw and running mate Tamika Catchings, a brilliant talent who is two years Holdsclawâs junior and also has a shot at being a four-time All-America.
Adidas had done well in choosing its sponsorship deals. The 1998 title game between Tennessee and La Tech found both teams adidas sponsored, as was North Carolina State, another Final Four team. The year before, Notre Dame, another adidas all-sport school, made the Final Four along with the Lady Vols.
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