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The official switch over for Rutgers athletics from Nike to Adidas begins on July 1st. However, the men’s basketball team has been giving a sneak peek to their new gear on twitter in the past month.
First, UConn transfer Vance Jackson, who visited Rutgers last month and is still considering the program, tweeted out a picture of himself in what appears to be one of the new men’s basketball jerseys.
Rutgers Visit pic.twitter.com/CHo3o34EDI
— YG (@VanceJackson1) May 6, 2017
I really like this jersey, with the scarlet tones on the shoulders and the font of the letters and numbers.
When 3-star recruit Myles Johnson committed to the program on Mother’s Day, he tweeted out a graphic with him sporting the same jersey with the shorts, giving a full preview of the black uniform the men’s team has worn on occasion.
Truly blessed to say that I've committed to Rutgers University ⚔️ #KnightAndDay pic.twitter.com/swI9miEsdm
— ℳƔℒΣƧ ℑ∅ℌℕ$ΩΠ (@MylestheMonster) May 14, 2017
There appears to be a knight’s head logo displayed on the right side of the shorts. No other pictures have surfaced of the potential new men’s basketball uniforms. I don’t love the big red stripe on the bottom of the shorts, but I’ll reserve full judgement until all three variations of the colors used for the uniforms are released.
Yesterday, the men’s basketball team got people even more excited by tweeting out pictures of two shoe versions that are set to be featured for the program. They are the shoe model for James Harden volume 1 on the left and the Damian Lillard 2.0 on the right.
Coming soon... ||| 7.1.17 ||| ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/tePrM1Mlu7
— Rutgers Basketball (@RutgersMBB) June 4, 2017
It generated a bunch of positive responses on twitter, which can be seen on the Rutgers men’s basketball team account here.
If the new uniforms, shoes, and additional gear from Adidas can get recruits and players more excited about the Rutgers brand, it can only help.
In addition, football associate head coach and offensive line coach A.J. Blazek tweeted out a new hat that appears to be part of the re-branding for Rutgers under Adidas.
@RFootball has one of THE BEST Equipment Guy in the land!!!!
— AJ Blazek (@CoachBlaz) June 4, 2017
⚫️ ⚫️ ⚔️ ⚫️ ⚫️ @RutgersFB_EQ just gets it done!!@adidasfootball begins!! pic.twitter.com/6QAd3Y5UMN
The gray would be a change from the past, as the primary colors of Rutgers gear has been scarlet red, black, and white. I personally like the gray for certain uses, as well as the use of the logo of the state of New Jersey. Hopefully, these hats will be available for the public to purchase. I would like to see the block R featured somewhere on the hat, perhaps it’s on the back.
We will have plenty of coverage of the changeover for Rutgers athletics to Adidas on July 1st, as well as anything else that is put out on social media ahead of the official release.