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Nike Rules March Madness Past and Present

For those of you too young to remember, there was a day when Nike was NOT the number one brand in basketball. Not until after 1985, when the Swoosh sponsored three of the Big East Final Four and dropped the Nike Dunk in 1986 in EVERY school color, did the brand officially serve notice they were taking over. From there, it was a wrap, and has been for the past 30 years.

This year, Nike embraces the recent past with a crew of young guns — Demar, Kyrie, AG, to name a few — showing out in the March Madness uniforms of their schools. I’ll let Nike take it from here:

It’s March. It’s Madness. With the Men’s 2016 NCAA College Basketball Tournament schedules officially locked, Nike schools are front and center, ready to bring their game and dance their way to Houston, in pursuit of the championship trophy.

To be precise, this year Nike Basketball proudly represents 69% of the men’s participants.

The heat of the Big Dance burns hot, even long after athletes leave campus, which makes March the time for players, students and alumni to rep their choice school. All they need to do is take cues from Nike Basketball athletes Demarcus Cousins, Demar Derozan, Aaron Gorden, Draymond Green, Kyrie Irving, Kelly Olynyk and Karl-Anthony Towns. Each proudly and boldly reps their respective alma mater.

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Demarcus Cousins represents a new breed of player — versatile and multifaceted —bringing a new level of athleticism to the sport. He’s a center, but he moves like a guard, with light, agile strides. At the University of Kentucky, this unique style of play earned him SEC Freshman of the Year and First Team All-SEC honors.


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As a freshman at the University of Arizona, Aaron Gordon started all 38 games, averaged 12.4 points, led the team in rebounds (eight per game), setting the freshmen record with 303 boards — all accomplished in an average in 31.2 minutes per game. This impressive statistics package earned him Pac-12 Freshman of the Year accolades.


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As a freshman, Draymond Green appeared in 37 games and stole the ball from the defense 21 times. His tireless worked was officially recognized senior year, when he was named 2012 NABC National Player of the Year, capping off an impressive college career that included1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, 80 double-doubles and three conference titles.


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In his first nine games as a point guard for the Duke Blue Devils, Kyrie Irving averaged 17.4 points and 5.3 assists per game, before being sidelined by a foot injury. Returning for the second round of the NCAA Tournament, he helped shepherd his team to the Sweet 16, where he scored a team-high 28 points against Arizona.


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DeMar DeRozan’s first collegiate competition for the University of Southern California notched the player 21 points and seven rebounds. From there, he started in all 35 season games, recording 485 points and 201 rebounds. Post-season, Derozan helped his team clinch the Pac-10 Tournament championship, which earned him First Team PAC-10 All-Freshman and PAC-10 Tournament MVP honors.


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As a member of the celebrated University of Kentucky team, Karl-Anthony Towns earned SEC Freshman of the Year recognition after knocking down 81 percent from the free-throw line and averaging 6.7 rebounds per game. And during his first dance at the NCAA tournament, Towns recorded 21 points and 11 rebounds.

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Source: Nike

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