The Nike-Under Armour battle for high school stars is heating up
The Under Armour Elite 24 annually lures some of the best basketball prospects in the country to New York City each August. And that won't change this month. But Nike has, rather abruptly, created an event in the Bahamas to compete with Under Armour and try to draw attention and prospects away from its main competitor in grassroots basketball these days.
By
Gary Parrish
•
2 min read
The Under Armour Elite 24 is one of the nation's best events for college basketball recruits -- evidence being the way it's consistently lured top prospects to New York each August.
Jaylen Brown and Cheick Diallo are among the stars who participated last year.
D'Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay played the year before.
It's a game that's grown in terms of popularity and prestige -- somewhat because it's one of the few high school events NBA scouts are allowed to attend, mostly because Under Armour has never had to compete for prospects with another shoe company. But that second part is changing. Because multiple sources told CBS Sports that Nike has created, pretty much on the fly, a new event designed to draw players and attention away from Under Armour, one that was also certified by the NBA within the past week.
And the best part?
The event will be held in ... the Bahamas!
Which means Nike has decided the best way to prevent prospects from wearing Under Armour on ESPN is to offer them all-expenses-paid trips to the Bahamas on the exact days as Under Armour's Elite 24. In other words, prospects are now picking between four days in New York or four days on an island with some of the world's most beautiful beaches.
"That seems to be a pretty fair interpretation," Nick Blatchford, Under Armour's director of grassroots and college basketball, told CBS Sports on Thursday. "It's a paid-for vacation."
And, predictably, it's working.
Blatchford said at least two prospects he planned to have in the Under Armour Elite 24 -- specifically Class of 2016 standouts Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum -- have recently declined UA's invitations even though they both played in the Under Armour Elite 24 last year.
"So we have to assume they'll be going to the Bahamas," Blatchford said.
That's likely a safe assumption.
(Update: Nike announced on Aug. 12 the prospects who accepted invitations to its Bahamas event. Among those listed are Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Malik Monk, i.e., three of the Class of 2016's top five recruits. All three accepted invitations to the UA Elite 24 last year. So count this as mission accomplished for Nike. The entire list of players attending Nike's event in the Bahamas can be viewed at this link.)
It's all pretty fascinating, right?
The so-called Shoe Wars have been mostly quiet since Sonny Vaccaro, the godfather of grassroots basketball, left the summer scene several years back. But this is a tangible sign that high-stakes fighting over players is returning, and it's also proof that Under Armour is making an impact in the world of basketball -- both at the professional and amateur levels.
Under Armour has the NBA's reigning MVP, Stephen Curry, under contract.
Last month's event in Charlotte featured Class of 2016 stars Josh Jackson and Thon Maker.
Translation: Under Armour is a real player in the game.
To be clear, Nike is still king and probably will be forever; don't get it twisted. But there's absolutely no reason for Nike to, rather abruptly, create an event in the Bahamas for the exact days as the Under Armour Elite 24 unless it felt threatened in some way.
Bottom line, this event is a clear reaction to Under Armour's growing presence.
There really is no other intelligent way to perceive it.
"The fact that they're putting something together, kind of last-minute, tells me they're trying to play defense," Blatchford said. "It's interesting to see them react to our event in this way."
