re: Basketball recruiting - "It's gotta be the shoes"

The difference between this one and others is that Addidas has a personal relationship with people close to this kid including his family. Not the same as a kid picking a Nike school because that's who his AAU team is tied to. It works both ways obviously in regards to the shoe affiliations with AAU schools but Muhammed's case is different from 99% of cases because his father has a personal stake in Addidas or the other way around. This is all the NCAA's doing when they allowed schools and in particular coaches to make side deals with the shoe companies. Stupid, stupid move if you believe that the NCAA is truly about the student athlete. I don't. The NCAA is about how much money the athlete can bring in. The student part is the cover.