From the Jonesboro Sun’s Matthew V. Roberson.
Arkansas State senior guard Jerry Nichols has been told by the school™s athletic director he will not be allowed to play this season because of a shoe contract dispute, and he is apparently threatening to sue the school if a compromise is not reached.
Nichols (above) has reservations about the adidas brand because of a knee injury he suffered in 2001 when wearing the shoes while playing for Walters State Community College.
Nichols practiced with his teammates wearing the Nike brand shoes at last Friday™s Nutthouse Nitecap, and then again during Saturday and Sunday™s workouts, even placing tape to cover the brand™s insignia.
But, according to Nichols, he was told by Lee on Monday he could no longer participate if he wasn™t willing to wear adidas brand shoes. Nichols was wearing street clothes and watching from the sideline during Monday™s workout.
œToday I had a meeting with Dr. Dean Lee, and it consisted of him personally telling me it was adidas or it was nothing, Nichols explained. œThat™s what it was basically about because they have a contract with adidas, and I have to wear adidas or I can™t play. That™s why I™m not practicing today.
The really sick thing about all this is that I’m pretty sure Phil Mushnick is touching himself while reading this story.