Antonio Blakeney
Antonio Blakeney

Ten days ago Antonio Blakeney, one of the top guards in the 2015 recruiting class, tweeted that he was going to play college basketball at the University of Louisville.

Proclaiming to the world that all his hard work had paid off with an offer to great school, telling Coach Rick Pitino he was on his way.

“I knew I wanted to commit to Louisville two or three months ago, but I’ve just been kind of holding it off to see what other schools had to offer just comparing it, and nothing was better,” he told the Courier-Journal shortly afterward.

Pretty succinct, except for the part about comparing what other schools had to offer. He had thought about it, come to a firm decision and wanted to play at Louisvlle. That decision obviously set up a flurry of activity behind the scenes by individuals and entities with ties to other schools. By Monday of this week, Blakeney tweeted that while he still liked UofL, he was reopening his recruitment and wanted to visit other schools.

The one thing that his reported final four schools — Kentucky, LSU, Missouri and Oregon — have in common is that they are all schools with Nike contracts. Louisville is associated with Adidas.

Pitino should have seen this coming, having seen several highly-prized recruits with sudden changes of mind. The UofL coach has stated a couple of times that he doesn’t like to recruit against the Lexington school. No further explanation was necessary. Marquis Teague, who had committed to UofL a couple of years earlier, comes to mind.

More and more, the process seems to evolve into a business decision for top 20 recruits, with some factor causing them to override their original choice. What’s different about this one is that Pitino appeared to have won the recruiting battle despite the NIKE connections.. Blakeney may have surprised them, causing them to shift into high gear.

The NCAA isn’t about to put the clamps on shoe company, thus far avoiding any effective policy to discourage the interaction. Nike, as a corporation, may have a corporate responsibility mission on the boardroom wall, but it means nothing to their people connecting with high school recruits.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

5 thoughts on “Blakeney turns from Louisville, looks to Nike schools”
  1. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. This keeps happening too many times without anything being done about it.

  2. Among the things in this world I do not understand include how a shoe company can influence a recruit and not cause an NCAA violation.

    Or, maybe nobody believes a violation has not occurred; they just are not prosecuted?

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