Coastal Carolina yesterday agreed to a "seven-year partnership agreement" with Under Armour beginning July 1, the same date the school "formally joins the Sun Belt Conference," according to Ryan Young of the Myrtle Beach SUN NEWS. UA "will provide on-field and training gear -- head to toe -- for Coastal Carolina’s 19 varsity sports and 460 athletes." This is the first time CCU will "have the same outfitter" for all of its programs. CCU "had previously signed a five-year contract with Russell Athletic" in April of '11. CCU AD Matt Hogue said, “It’s a direct testament to the level that we are moving [up to] in terms of FBS football and the Sun Belt -- not only where we’re headed, but the success we’ve had in the past three or four years made us an attractive target for a lot of companies." Young notes CCU "had to wait for its Russell Athletic contract to expire before it could negotiate with a new outfitter, and so the school is in a bit of a time crunch to get its new set of uniforms ordered" for the '16-17 athletic seasons. As a result, Hogue said that there "might not be as much teal involved in the early designs as there will be down the road" (Myrtle Beach SUN NEWS, 5/10).
