Before the Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) men’s basketball team got booted from the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s 1996 tournament, the historically Black school got sneakered.
The university came into the 64-team “March Madness” tournament not only as a monumental underdog to first-round opponent Georgetown, but also as the only tournament team with out a tie-in deal with a sneaker company.
Superstar alumnus Jerry Rice came to the rescue by persuad ing Nike, for whom he does endorse ments, to provide sneakers and warm-up suits for the Delta Devils. But the team, with its new duds, went down to defeat as Georgetown romped to victory.
This incident made it clear how poorly Black schools fare in the battle over shoe deals. While most Black schools have some sort of promotional deal, there is a consensus that none have the lucrative, megabucks contracts that often provide millions of welcome dollars to other colleges and universities.
Some argue that the Black schools are slighted in shoe deals; others say the schools are their own worst enemies when it comes to striking deals.
Bigfoot Contracts
Nike had its sneakers on the flying feet of 35 tournament teams, including South Carolina State University, the other predominantly Black school that qualified for the tournament.
