For Hurley & St. Anthony, It Must Be the Shoes | Zagsblog
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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Friday / March 29.
  • For Hurley & St. Anthony, It Must Be the Shoes

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    NEW YORK — For Bob Hurley and the St. Anthony Friars, it must be the shoes.

    OK, it might also be the fact that they feature two major Division 1 talents, a group of solid role players and a Hall of Fame coach.

    But St. Anthony is undefeated (15-0) in the specially designed Reebok kicks made in honor of Hurley, who today shoots for career win No. 1,000 against St. Mary’s of Jersey City in St. Anthony’s gym (4 p.m.).

    “I’m not really in line with the whole thing but the kids like them,” Hurley said of the sneakers.

    Reebok came up with the idea for the sneakers “to help celebrate Coach Hurley’s success and induction into the Hall of Fame,” Chris Froio, the Head of Global Men’s Sport for Reebok, said by email.

    “The design and development team worked really hard on making this come to fruition right before Coach was inducted this past August.

    “All of Coach Hurley’s accomplishments are laser printed on the shoe including his National Championships, State Championships, #’s of his players that have played in the NBA, etc.”

    For those keeping score at home, Hurley has won three mythical national titles, 23 state crowns and 10 Tournament of Champions titles. Five of his former players went on to the NBA.

    Reebok initially made the sneakers for the St. Anthony players to wear during the HoopHall Classic earlier this month in Springfield, Mass. They also produced a dozen pairs to be sold exclusively at the Reebok World Headquarters in Canton, MA.

    Not everything worked out perfectly, though.

    Junior guard Kyle Anderson, the No. 1 point guard in the Class of 2012, wears a size 16 shoe, but was given a size 17 instead.

    Anderson had to wear three pairs of socks underneath during the SNY Invitational this past weekend, which the Friars won, 43-38, over Boys & Girls.

    “Yeah, they are comfortable,” he said of the kicks.

    A Reebok representative said, “Another pair is being made for Kyle.”

    Reebok also allowed the players to customize their own sneakers on Reebok’s custom website for use in the state playoffs.

    Even if the coach isn’t fully on board, Reebok figures to get some good PR out of the sneakers, especially when Hurley wins his 1,000th career game. Which could happen as soon as Wednesday.

    “Coach Hurley is a basketball legend and one of the longest lasting endorsees of the Reebok family,” Froio said. “Coach Hurley’s loyalty and dedication to kids of Jersey City over the last 40+ years is a tribute to not only his legacy but also to the game of basketball. Reebok is extremely proud to have Coach Hurley as one of its family members.”

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    Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.

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