The Hawaii men’s basketball team is expected to switch from its longstanding shoes and apparel provider, Adidas, to Under Armour prior to the 2015-16 season.
Under Armour, a relative newcomer in basketball gear, already has separate deals with a handful of other UH sports, including football, baseball and soccer.
"Basketball is not done yet, but that’s our intention," athletic director David Matlin said Wednesday. He declined to go into details of the pending arrangement.
The Rainbow Warriors have used Adidas for their hoops gear since the middle of the Riley Wallace era, around the late 1990s or early 2000s, according to a UH spokesperson.
The expected change in apparel would coincide with UH’s recent overhaul from the Gib Arnold/Benjy Taylor years to new head coach Eran Ganot.
Last month, St. Mary’s College — where Ganot was an assistant the past five seasons — announced a multi-year agreement for all its sports with Under Armour.
"I just talked with Eran about it, that this was our intention (for basketball), and he was obviously very comfortable with it, because St. Mary’s is going Under Armour too," Matlin said. "He wasn’t (the driving force) but he was totally fine with it. … It was being worked on before I took the job and before Eran was hired."
Meanwhile, UH endeavors toward securing an all-sports deal with one apparel provider, which would be a first for the athletic department. To this point, UH’s various sports have secured their own arrangements with various companies, usually through their head coaches. An all-sports deal might allow for better equipment and cost savings for UH’s smaller sports.
"We’re evaluating where we are on apparel," Matlin said of the department’s overall strategy. "Right now, it’s been sport-by-sport. That’s an accurate statement for right now. But I think you always evaluate your options."
