This morning in New York City, Nike unveiled the latest innovations in basketball uniforms through the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum series. Honoring the eight universities that have won National Championships in Nike kit —Arizona, Baylor, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina and Syracuse— the Hyper Elite program celebrates an excellence and passion representing 31 Division 1 titles in both the men's and women's game.
Since 2007, Nike has been working to transform the basketball uniform, taking cues from the stylistic choices of icons like Michael Jordan and Michigan's Fab Five while pushing performance through lighter materials and technologies. The Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform ties the past to the future. Classic details are drawn from each of the school's past uniforms (look closely at the shorts, for example), and build on legacy beyond simple color cues.
The performance push is boosted by employment of bonded seams and laser cut details. Both help to minimize weight while creating a uniform that reads cleanly both on court and on television (after all, the viewer is as important to uniform design as the athlete). Numbers and letters are in bold reflective material, stitched at the outer edges for improved legibility. In addition, sublimated graphics to the back of the jersey promote specific school traditions and honor championship victories (stars are employed to denote championships).
Nike's commitment to sustainability is also evident in the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniform, with the percentage of recycled plastic material employed again increased from previous designs.
Teams will also sport a basketball specific version of the classic N98 warm-up decorated with the years of Championship seasons.
Tar_Heel83 January 25th, 2012 at 09:06 PM
Nike sure does have the ability to turn classic basketball kits ugly. Wholesale fail for the University of North Carolina kit. Roy Williams needs to put his foot down with Nike. Gray kits? Are you kidding me? And changing the Tar Heel logo. Absolutely wrong. There is no way a UNC basketball team should wear other colors than Carolina blue and white. At least the Carrier classic was mainly blue. This is absolute garbage.
Craig Frederick January 26th, 2012 at 07:57 AM
New uniforms
Ethel February 1st, 2012 at 04:57 PM
Watched the UT/KY game last night and these are the ugliest uniforms I have ever seen. It looked as though KY was playing in pajamas. I know UT slept through the game so perhaps I am not far off but still.....Beyond Ugly!
hoops fan February 11th, 2012 at 07:31 PM
Nike could introduce a new line of uniforms covered with poop stains and a bunch of lemmings would rush out to drop $120 a pop for them. These are an utter fail and belong in the Nike Prison League.
Michele March 1st, 2012 at 10:44 PM
I didn't even recognize my team on the court last night. Those uniforms are beyond ugly and did not translate well to the viewing audience. What a snooze. Nike needs to go back to the drawing board and the Tarheels need to go back to Carolina blue and white. The real team colors!