Sonny Vaccaro's Exit To Have Wide Impact On Summer Hoops
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James (r) One Of Many NBAers Who
Received Exposure At Vaccaro's (c) Camps |
The closing of former Nike, adidas and Reebok exec SONNY VACCARO's ABCD Camp after 23 years will have a “far-reaching impact on college recruiting this summer and beyond,” according to Pete Thamel of the N.Y. TIMES. Vaccaro has become one of the “more controversial and polarizing figures in college athletics. But no one can argue his impact.” Vaccaro’s high school summer camps, which were created to “give talented players widespread exposure, helped jump-start the careers and marketing viability” of players like Cavaliers F LEBRON JAMES, Rockets F TRACY MCGRADY and Lakers G KOBE BRYANT. Syracuse Univ. men’s basketball coach JIM BOEHEIM said of the summer camp landscape, “Sonny being out is a big difference. Nike is a bigger and more powerful player, but Sonny has been able to overcome that with his personality. I would expect that to change with him out of the picture.” Thamel noted Nike has moved its camp from Indianapolis to Akron and renamed it the LeBron James Skills Academy. adidas is moving its camp from Atlanta to Cincinnati. Reebok was the most recent sponsor of the ABCD camp, and its Rbk U, which will be held at Philadelphia Univ., will have a “decidedly lower emphasis on starmaking than ABCD did.” Reebok Dir of Basketball Marketing CHRIS RIVERS said, “With the success, the phenomenon, that ABCD had become, we did this in order for us to create our own identity and get out of that shadow.” Thamel noted it is not known if adidas will join with Reebok “in its effort to take on Nike.” Rivers: “I wouldn’t be surprised to see in 2008 if you saw some co-branding going on at the grass-roots level” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/24).
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