Men's basketball coaches at this week's SEC media day "seemed to share somewhat mixed views" on the question of whether they "felt that it was difficult to recruit certain players based on their AAU team’s shoe affiliation," according to Kami Mattioli of SPORTING NEWS. Tennessee's Donnie Tyndall said of whether he thought recruits were brand loyal, "I do. The reality is that shoe companies and AAU programs affiliated with shoe companies, it comes into play. I think anyone that would tell you differently isn’t being truthful. I can’t answer to what extent or how powerful that is in the recruiting process, but there’s absolutely no doubt it comes into play." While Tyndall said that he had "never encountered a situation where a potential recruit had explicitly told him the school’s affiliation was a roadblock, he acknowledged that he’s had multiple experiences where he believes that was indeed the case." Alabama's Anthony Grant said he "hasn't paid a lot of attention to the discussion." But he acknowledged that shoe companies’ influence "could potentially be an aspect that helps sway prospects’ opinions." Of the 12 players asked their opinion on the subject, "all replied that they knew at least one person in their time on the AAU circuit who openly admitted that part of his decision to commit revolved around the type of shoe that particular school was affiliated with." Ole Miss G Jarvis Summers, whose school is affiliated with Nike, "was the most forthcoming in his answer." He called it a “big recruiting advantage” for schools that share the same brand affiliation as a prospect’s AAU team. He said, "I played for the Jackson (Miss.) Tigers in AAU and we were sponsored by Nike and a lot of players on my team, they didn’t want to go to an adidas school" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 10/23).
