The ‘Shoe Wars’ heat up as Under Armour, Nike host events

In college basketball, there are three major brands of apparel. Those three are Adidas, Nike, and the upstart Under Armour. The latter began as primarily a football brand, making visors for helmets, cleats, and under shirts. Today, they have expanded their brand into the world of college basketball and they have moved into the elite of the apparel wars.

Over the last ten years, Under Armour has hosted the Elite 24, an event that showcases some of the country’s best college basketball players. Nike has held the Elite Youth Basketball League to combat the rival brand’s event, but this year, the war between the two heated up.

College Basketball Talk shared a highlight video of the EYBL Bahamas, an event created by Nike to draw attention away from the Elite 24 in New York. Both events took place this past weekend and it has furthered push the brand war into a whole new dimension.

The EYBL Bahamas event featured top 2016 and 2017 prospects the likes of Harry Giles, Jason Taytum, and Gary Trent Jr. The Elite 24 also featured a host of talented athletes like Edrice Adebayo, Michael Porter Jr., and Billy Preston. Both events had their upsides to them, but Under Armour took an ever-so-slight jab at the Swoosh brand via Twitter during the event Saturday evening.

If that doesn’t scream rivalry, I don’t know what does. In the end, this works out for both the fans and the players alike. Fans get to see some of the best players in the country show off their talents before they even hit the collegiate levels and, with two events instead of one, more players have the opportunity to show what they can do to hopefully garner even more attention from premiere colleges.

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*Featured Photo (above) credit to BallBoy Hype

Video: 5-star forwards nearly bring down rim at Elite 24
Video: 5-star forwards nearly bring down rim at Elite 24