Footwear brands have been making exclusive sneakers for college teams for years, but there aren’t many schools that can match up to the player exclusives bestowed upon the University of Oregon Ducks. Due to the school’s deep ties with Nike, Oregon athletes have access to more exclusive footwear than any other school in the nation, including a heap of extremely sought after Air Jordan sneakers.
As the story goes, back in 2011, legendary Nike designer Tinker Hatfield was trying to find a new way to keep athletes comfortable and stylish on the road when he decided to color up some exclusive Air Jordans.
“I felt like there was something missing. It wasn’t really that exciting and no one was talking about it,” Hatfield said. “And I felt like there could be this excitement driven by leveraging the history of the Jordan Brand, even though we aren’t talking about a Jordan school, but just the history of the brand and Michael Jordan himself.”
It all started with the Air Jordan 9, which was presented in a dark black upper akin to the original “Charcoal” colorway. After that came the Air Jordan 3 “Pit Crew,” which was followed by a white colorway of the Air Jordan 3 for the Oregon football team.
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The exclusives have been steady ever since, but unfortunately, none of them have actually made it to retail stores. For more information, including further insight from Hatfield, visit Nike SNKRS.
