The People Have Spoken: New Uniform Design DEAD

Big ups to Steven for catching this last night: An article in yesterday's Technician says the new uniforms have been scrapped and the team will wear last year's design.

After a swift outcry from students and fans, the N.C. State Athletics Department has opted to scrap its new white jerseys for the men’s basketball team and return to a design similar to the one it used last year.

The jerseys, provided free of cost due to endorsement deals with Adidas sporting goods company, will have “N.C. State” printed across the chest.

“We were looking for a positive outcome, but since this didn’t turn out that way, we’re more than willing to go back to the old way and move forward,” Athletic Director Lee Fowler said.

The Athletic Department posted pictures of the new jerseys on Twitter Wednesday afternoon and angry comments immediately flooded Internet chat rooms and message boards.

“It seems to have created some controversy, and there’s nothing [Lowe], I, or the department would rather avoid than making the students upset,” Fowler said.

The jerseys featured the word “State” above the player’s number, with the letters “NC” clustered above them. Fowler and coach Sidney Lowe said they were discouraged from only including the word “State,” as schools such as Michigan State University have on their jerseys.

The article further states that Lowe partnered with folks on his staff when coming up with the design. Putting the pieces together, that tells me that Sidney pushed for the word "State" across the chest but had to compromise with someone in the process to incorporate the letters "NC." So if the design looked like the NC were thrown in after the fact, it most likely was.

I'm not sure who stepped forward in the process to discourage the use of the word "State" without the "NC," but I'd love to have a sit down with them. Perhaps they could convince me why it matters that Michigan State uses a similar design, given that State wore that design well prior to the days of David Thompson. The photo after the jump, from the State library collection, dates back to 1952:

(Continues)

State apparently used only the term "State" on their jerseys those days all the way until the early 1990's. Here's a photo of Chris Corchiani wearing a State-only version:


And here's the dreaded Unitard with the "N.C." added:


So did the Unitard not only represent the single worst athletic apparel move in the history of sport, but also kill off the "State"-only jerseys for good? It appears so.