Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 6:45 pm  |  11 responses

Going Platinum

Nike unveils its latest and most innovative uniform, the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum.

by Eldon Khorshidi / @eldonadam

This past Wednesday, Nike unveiled its new Hyper Elite Platinum basketball uniforms, which were specially designed for nine college basketball programs: Arizona, Baylor (women), UCONN (men and women), Duke, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina and Syracuse. Tracy Teague, global creative director for Nike Basketball, introduced the uniforms during an hour-long presentation at Good Units, a subterranean portion of New York City’s Hudson Hotel.

“We’re aiming to elevate college basketball,” Teague proclaimed to the media herd. “The Hyper Elite Platinum is the next generation of basketball uniforms, and there’s no better place to start than with the certified excellence of these nine teams. This jersey is where performance meets sustainability.”

As Teague hints, the Hyper Elite Platinum is somewhat of a fraternity, where each team earned its bid by having won a National Championship in Nike apparel and footwear. The Platinum distinguishes itself from its predecessor, the Hyper Elite, in many ways. Firstly (and most obviously), the jerseys have a platinum base highlighted with each schools color. But the underlying theme, as Teague notes, is high performance with little environmental harm. To achieve this goal, the fabric of the Hyper Elite Platinum shorts are made from 100 percent recycled polyester while the jersey fabric is made from at least 96 percent recycled polyester, which has also made these new jerseys 5 percent lighter than the Hyper Elite.

Along with the jerseys, the next generation uniform includes the Hyper Elite Platinum shorts—which features laser-cut bonded reflective school logos and perforations in its side panels for increased breathability—the Nike Zoom Hyperenforcer sneaker, and school-specific warm-up jackets, which proudly showcase each program’s Championship success.

The select group will debut their respective jerseys at one home game this season, and use them at their discretion after that. Dates for the debuts are: UConn vs. Notre Dame (1/29), Kentucky vs. Tennessee (1/31), Duke vs. Maryland (2/11), Baylor (women’s) vs. Texas A&M (2/11), Florida vs. Tennessee (2/11), Syracuse vs. USF (2/22), Arizona vs. UCLA (2/25), UConn (women’s) vs. Notre Dame (2/27) and UNC vs. Maryland (2/29).

Look for more details and quotes about these uniforms in SLAM 157, on sale in early March. But for now, roll through the gallery above for a peek at Nike’s newest look.

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  • Jer dawg Posted: Jan.26 at 7:02 pm
    Nike twitter had a photo of 22 plastic bottles were used to make the jersey. Which is it? I feel weird wearing a plastic bottle as a jersey!

  • Ben Osborne Posted: Jan.26 at 9:28 pm
    Dope jerseys! Thanks Eldon.

  • twinparadox Posted: Jan.26 at 11:53 pm
    Literal Tarheel?

  • Kas Posted: Jan.28 at 5:42 am
    Holy crap they’re tacky

  • Darksaber Posted: Jan.28 at 9:48 am
    VERY nice high tech detailing on these unis but i have got to say: HOW MANY HYPERSHOES DOES NIKE EXPECT US TO BUY, DAMNIT?
    Just got used to my two new Hyperdunks, now they’re pushing the Hyperforce (a shoe Nba’ers are wearing already, Matrix/Gay/Milsap for ex.?
    So is there gonna be a Hyperdunk 2012 or is the Hyperforce replacing that line?

  • Addam Posted: Jan.28 at 3:49 pm
    Please. Elevate college hoops by changing their jerseys… Plus, they’re all the same color. I guess Nike saves money buy having only 1 sweat-shop pump out the same shirt 100,000,000 times, using the same material color and all.

  • underdog Posted: Jan.29 at 5:01 am
    Remember those grey / silver alternate jerseys the Mavericks had several seasons ago? Well these college jerseys are similarly ugly like those.

  • Ugh Posted: Jan.30 at 5:49 am
    Am I alone in thinking we could probably forgo “increased breathability” and pay the sweatshop workers that R&D funding instead? How much “breathability” do we actually need? Wilt managed 48.5 minutes a game in a hessian sack with the sleeves cut off.

  • Nike Unveils New Platinum Uniforms // N3WSCHOOL © Posted: Jan.31 at 3:11 am
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  • TheKid Posted: Feb.1 at 10:33 pm
    They better be selling those baylor socks in mens sizes….I need a that color

  • Anonymous Posted: Apr.3 at 9:51 pm
    Is there some reason these uniforms can’t be made in actual school colors, instead of ugly as hell grey?

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