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How much do sneakers matter in basketball recruiting?

SPOKANE, WA - MARCH 18: Nike shoes are worn by a player on the Oregon Ducks as he takes on the Holy Cross Crusaders in the first half during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on March 18, 2016 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Credit: Ken Sugiura

Credit: Ken Sugiura

SPOKANE, WA - MARCH 18: Nike shoes are worn by a player on the Oregon Ducks as he takes on the Holy Cross Crusaders in the first half during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on March 18, 2016 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
By
Aug 8, 2017

You may have heard that Georgia Tech will be switching apparel providers after June 2018 from Russell Athletic to Adidas, Nike or Under Armour. The strong sentiment is that the change will help recruiting, but a difficult question to tease out is how much of a help it will be, and if there is one particular brand that would help the most.

In grassroots basketball circles, it's understood that what AAU team a recruit plays for has some influence on where he will play in college. Josh Pastner and several Yellow Jackets targets shared their thoughts on the matter.

The choices of the top prospects from the 2016 signing class were also analyzed for the degree to which the brand affiliation of AAU team influenced college selection.

Explore Read the entire story on myajc.

About the Author

Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.

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