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Was UCLA's Relationship With Adidas A Factor In Landing Top Recruit Shabazz Muhammad?

Top high school basketball player Shabazz Muhammad yesterday committed to play for UCLA next year, and it “would be naive for anybody to suggest the financial relationship” adidas has with people around Muhammad “didn't factor into his decision to attend" the school, according to Gary Parrish of CBSSPORTS.com. adidas has “sponsored Muhammad's summer team (Dream Vision) for years, and his tennis-playing sister (Asia Muhammad) has an Adidas contract even though she's ranked outside the top 375 in the world.” Parrish: “This stuff has to matter on some level” (CBSSPORTS.com, 4/11). In Las Vegas, Ed Graney writes under the header, "Since Shoe (Adidas) Fits, Choice Was Easy" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 4/12). North Carolina Central Univ. men's basketball coach LaVelle Moton wrote on his Twitter feed, "Did people think that Shabazz (Adidas Kid) was goin to choose a Nike School? (kentucky) Its Deeper than Basketball People. Much Deeper!" ESPN's Fran Fraschilla wrote, "Wow. Shabazz Muhammad to UCLA. Three stripes and Kentucky's out!" But RealGM.com's Twitter feed stated, "If Adidas is such a deciding factor for Shabazz, why were his two other choices Nike schools (UK, Duke) and not Kansas, Baylor, etc.?" CBSSports.com's Jeff Borzello wrote, "I don't get the whole outrage over the UCLA-Adidas connection. Why no outrage over the Nike-every other school connection?"

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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