The University of Oregon and other schools try to keep exclusive Nike sneakers on their players' feet and off Internet auction sites
HELEN JUNG
The Oregonian
Bill Clever need only look at the two pairs of size 13 Nike sneakers in his office and breathe a sigh of relief. He may just have saved one of the University of Oregon men's basketball players from eBaying away his eligibility.
Earlier this month, someone under the username "k503b" posted a picture of the sneakers -- Nike Zoom LeBron 2 sneakers with green and yellow Oregon colors and logo -- on the Internet auction site eBay. The shoes had been made exclusively for Oregon's men's basketball players.
Although Clever, Oregon's assistant athletic director for compliance, couldn't determine the seller, he feared a player was involved or connected -- a potential violation of NCAA rules prohibiting student-athletes from selling equipment and other items received in college sports. He had the two players with size 13 shoes turn in their sneakers.
Nike has made special shoes exclusively for athletes at select colleges for years. But the increased popularity of auction sites such as eBay has provided an easy way to connect sellers with collectors, who are willing to pay thousands of dollars for limited-edition sneakers -- such as those worn by student-athletes.
The combination makes for a minefield of potential problems that has compliance officers scouring the Web and scratching their heads over how best to protect their team members from accidental -- or intentional -- sales that risk their NCAA eligibility. Nike has little at stake, but incidents provide one more example of how complex the relationship between college athletic departments and sponsors has become.
In Oregon's case, once university officials took possession of the shoes, the unknown eBay seller pulled the auction. Problem solved.
Oregon's not the only school sweating over sales of sneakers, and schools have long had to monitor the unauthorized sales of complimentary game tickets or other such items. But with the basketball season recently ended, a number of sneakers designed by Nike exclusively for college teams has shown up on eBay -- with one version of Nike Air Jordan 13 sneakers produced for the University of North Carolina men's and women's basketball teams fetching as much as $1,275 earlier this month.
North Carolina, which won the NCAA men's title this spring, is looking into that sale for potential violations, said Amy Herman, North Carolina's compliance director.
Nike tries to make sure that on its end, it is doing everything to comply with NCAA rules and support schools in enforcing them, said spokeswoman Joani Komlos. "Our primary goal (is) to continue to supply them with product that we feel will best fill their needs."
As far as compliance officers know, so far no one has done anything wrong. The NCAA also does not believe at this point that a violation has occurred, said Steve Mallonee, NCAA's Division I governance liaison, noting for instance, that the sellers may be misrepresenting what they are selling.
And not all sales -- if legitimate -- would be problematic. For example, a recent sale of a University of Kansas shoe was reputed to belong to Keith Langford, who, as a senior, no longer has to worry about protecting eligibility. (In any case, Kansas officials said Langford was not the seller).
Still, the episodes are reminders for compliance officers to review rules with their student-athletes -- as well as not to underestimate the lure of selling a limited-edition Nike shoe, which can command thousands of dollars.
"Any temptation that we face -- certainly every other institution in the country faces the same issue," Clever said. "Is there a way that we can prevent this 100 percent? No. . . . It's a monitoring nightmare."
Nike has contracts with dozens of schools to provide shoes and predominantly sends shoes that can be bought in any retail store, said Komlos. But the Beaverton-based company occasionally will produce a commemorative or special pair exclusively for a team, she said, such as with Oregon and North Carolina.
Oregon's troubles began in April, when compliance officials came across a listing of the Oregon-exclusive LeBron basketball shoe.
Oregon athletics officials called in their players to bring in their shoes. All 14 pairs were accounted for and the compliance staff met with each student-athlete to explain the NCAA rules, Clever said. The athletes were given their shoes back.
Then, a few weeks later, compliance officers came across a second listing of the shoes. This time, they called in the two players with size 13 shoes. Clever declined to name the two players and said he is continuing to look into the case.
Identifying sellers -- who go by usernames on eBay -- isn't exactly easy. The items' sellers either declined to comment or did not return e-mails from The Oregonian.
In Oregon's case, a former Nike employee may have been involved in the eBay posting, Komlos said. The employee had been fired for unrelated reasons, and she declined to give further details.
North Carolina is looking into the sale, earlier this month, of the size 9.5 shoes, which the seller said, "I cannot tell you how I got them or from who as I want to protect that individual. Yes, it sounds stupid, but sorry."
The men's and women's basketball teams both have the specialty sneakers, said Herman, director of compliance for North Carolina. None of the players on the men's team wears smaller than a size 11, she said.
"We do not believe there is an eligibility issue," she said, although she is continuing to look into the case.
Neither North Carolina nor Oregon is inclined to ask Nike to only send shoes that can be found in retail stores. But if the problem continues, that could change, Clever said.
"If I have to continue to collect shoes and monitor this activity, I would become an advocate" of limiting Nike specially issued shoes, Clever said. "I don't want to spend a lot of time on eBay."
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