Louisville Coach Rick Pitino Wants Shoe Companies Out Of Recruiting Process

The world of college basketball at times has become more dependent on other factors outside of which players are actually on the court. It has become more of a big deal about what the shoe companies think–and the fact they are sponsoring team apparel along with the shoes. Louisville coach Rick Pitino however has come out saying he’d like to eliminate how much shoe companies are involved in recruiting. [photo: Andy Lyons/Getty]
Pitino is referring to the fact that he has to only recruit kids wearing Adidas shoes because that company just spent $39 million in the spring to outfit all of Louisville’s teams. He even thinks that some AAU coaches could sway a player away from a certain school just because of what shoes they are wearing. It is something that can affect where top recruits go.
If Pitino has his eye on someone wearing Nikes, he can still technically recruit them but would have to tell that player he can only wear Adidas from now on. It could become a problem. Pitino did admit though that it is hard to address the situation since Louisville’s “pockets are lined with their money.” Nothing is likely to change anytime soon but at least Pitino decided he had to say something about it.