Can Nike bring more success to UT than adidas did?

After 18 years with adidas as their apparel provider, Tennessee will make the switch to Nike official tomorrow.

Tennessee’s time with adidas saw some of the greatest success in the history of UT athletics, but advantages in recruiting due to Nike being more popular than adidas fueled the switch to the Beaverton, Oregon based company.

In Tennessee’s partnership with adidas that started in 1997, they posted a 144-83 record in football and a 381-204 record in basketball.

The time with adidas consisted of the best seasons in Vols’ athletics history, including the 1998 national championship football season, as well as the 2009-2010 Elite Eight basketball season.

The basketball team ascending to number one in the rankings, as well as the 1997 and 1998 SEC Championships for football come to mind when thinking of the top moments of the adidas era.

But despite all the success that Tennessee had under adidas, could the switch to Nike be the start of something special for UT football and basketball?

At the moment, the football program has more positive momentum surrounding it than has been there in years, and the basketball program seems destined for success with future hall of fame coach Rick Barnes at the helm.

And though the brand of apparel that a team wears certainly doesn’t single-handedly make that team win, it certainly helps.

Nike opens a whole new world of recruiting possibilities, especially for basketball.

Nike has long been known as the leader in basketball apparel and branding, and wearing the Nike swoosh on their jerseys will help Barnes recruit at the high level he wants to.

Nike is helpful for football, too. Butch Jones has used the switch to Nike as a selling point ever since it was announced that the Vols would be making the switch over, and clearly, Jones is doing something right on the recruiting trail.

By the way it looks, Nike may be coming just in time for a golden age of Tennessee football and basketball.

If they can replicate and then expand on the achievements that adidas brought in, the switch will have been a success.

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