The Syracuse Orange travel to Madison, Wisc. to take on the Wisconsin Badgers this evening. And when they do, they’ll face a host of different challenges related to being on the road, playing at the Kohl Center and... using unfamiliar basketballs.
As the Daily Orange’s Paul Schwedelson points out today, Wisconsin is the only Power Five program to use Sterling-branded basketballs. Syracuse, like a bunch of other schools, uses Nike, while plenty more use balls manufactured by Spalding, Under Armour, Wilson and Adidas.
Apparently the switch has caused some issues in the past.
According to research from Syracuse University sport management professor Rodney Paul, going specifically from a Nike ball to another manufacturers’ does have a negative impact on the Nike school.