Todd Krinsky’s life’s work has been to make Reebok a preeminent shoe company. It’s no exaggeration. He has spent almost 33 years at the company, working his way up from the bottom to the top, where he now sits as the CEO of Reebok.

Last year, the company announced that it was relaunching its basketball division, marking a return to an industry it had once been a vital part of. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Reebok was a significant player in the basketball sneaker market, buoyed by its relationships with Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal. Then it went dormant for nearly two decades after it was sold to Adidas and went through a retrenchment.

Now, Shaq is back as president of the basketball unit, and Reebok is trying to become a force again, starting with a high-profile endorsement deal with Angel Reese. Krinsky spoke with The Athletic about how it’s trying to do that, why it’s trying to take a different approach to gaining customers and where NIL and Reese fit into that picture.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Basketball is a crowded sneaker and apparel ecosystem right now. Do you think you can be successful here? What does success look like?

The brand has always been a little more irreverent. We take a little bit more of a not-so-serious approach to the games. We embrace the culture of the game more. We embrace the lifestyle of the games. It’s what we (are) historically known for. And I think this is something we want to get back to.

I think we’ve also really been good at building icons. We’re not going to have half the league wear Reebok. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to really sign some unique personalities and build an icon business with a few athletes.

So I think it’s crowded. I think we’ve got great innovations. I think we’ve got a really strong institutional knowledge on building great product for athletes. And then I think we’re going to really break through with our kind of tone and the way we tell stories around the culture and the game. So we wouldn’t be getting back into it if we didn’t see a sharp line of sight.

But what success looks like for us is to be a major player again. We just launched the Netflix show, and one of the things Shaq says is, we were never No. 1, but we weren’t three either. We were right up there. And I think that’s our goal, to get back to being a major, major player again.

When you’re talking about tone and the players that you want to sign that have personality, how does that translate into selling shoes? 

Intuitively, the brands that sell the most shoes are the ones that have the strongest connection with the consumer. And I think with today’s consumer, storytelling is so important. Cultural currency is so important. It’s not just about signing a player and hawking a shoe. That worked in, like, the ’90s.

I think it’s more now you have to be creative with what you’re saying, about why you signed the player and how the shoe came about, and what’s the story behind the product, and why these brands and the player got together. Storytelling is the most important currency in our industry today.

Angel Reese is the first basketball player you signed after relaunching the basketball brand. And she’s getting her signature shoe. Has that been announced when that’s coming out?

It’s going to be later in the season, this season.

Why is she the basketball player that you’re building around, and how does that fit into the larger storytelling and business arc?

If you think about when we’ve really been successful, it’s been having these bigger-than-life personalities that are embracing on- and off-the-court culture. Shaq was like that. He was larger than life. He wasn’t just a center. He transformed the game. And he had this bigger-than-life personality. Allen Iverson, we signed him in ’96. Obviously, he changed the way players look and dress. He changed the culture of the game. And I think that’s what Angel is.

Angel is a provocative disruptor. But she doesn’t do it just for clicks or whatever. She does it because she really has this very, kind of unique, rebellious attitude. And those are the type of athletes that — athletes have something to say. Athletes are more than just athletes, away from the court. That’s the formula of what’s really worked for us in the past, so we can build these icons, and she’s definitely one of them. She fits the Shaq/AI mentality.

She dominates the paint. Now she’s redefining style. Introducing the Angel Reese x Reebok collection—a bold mix of performance and unapologetic personality. Hoops meets high fashion. Game on. https://t.co/WvlsneAoxG pic.twitter.com/cBQojoRt1b

— Reebok (@Reebok) May 1, 2025

How much is the WNBA and women’s basketball a part of your core strategy? 

I think back when we were in basketball before, it was like: You do the NBA, and WNBA may be a little bit of an afterthought. You have a player or two. I think the WNBA now is right in the center of everything we’re doing. It’s not like one or the other. WNBA, NBA, male, female athletes — we’re looking at the whole landscape of basketball. What’s going to move culture the most?

I would say the WNBA is right at the core of what we’re doing. We’ve got Angel, we’ve got the other athletes, like Dijonai (Carrington), we’ve signed. We’re going to sign more WNBA players as we go. I just think it’s an interesting time where the people are really, finally, respecting the play more than ever. And I think the players are embracing it with their own tunnel looks, and their own stories, and their own shoes now. That there’s so many signature shoes now in the women’s game, it’s awesome.

When my daughter played, it was like, there’s one or two choices or you were wearing a men’s shoe. And now it’s a totally new game now, which is great for the next generation of young girls as well.

With Shaq in particular, he is the president of your basketball division. And as you said, he is a TNT analyst, and he’s also the GM of basketball at Sacramento State. I see him in a commercial for I don’t even know how many things on TV. What’s the realistic commitment that he’s able to make to Reebok?

To be honest with you, it’s been unreal. I don’t know how he has enough time in the day, but I know he’s really passionate about this. And his name’s on it. We do FaceTime calls almost every week. He’s talking to a young player every two to three weeks. He’s calling me and saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to FaceTime this kid’s parents.’ And he’s in meetings. I mean, he really, really is committing time to this. And you’ll see it in the show, in the Netflix show, you see that he’s really engaged in meetings with the team.

Sometimes I say to him, I don’t know where he gets the time because he’s like, 24/7. I think it’s because he’s passionate about Reebok. I think it’s because his name is attached to this publicly that he’s really putting a lot of time into it.

I think your only NBA endorser right now is Matas Buzelis, right?

Yeah. We also have Tre Mann, who wears Iverson’s product. He’s a big Iverson fan, so we decided for him to wear Iverson’s product. But, yeah, that’s who we have right now. We’ve got a couple of young kids that are going to play in college this upcoming year, like Nate (Ament) and Darius (Acuff), and then we’re still looking for some other players, too.

With all due respect to Matas and Tre Mann, they don’t scream like great endorsers. Or I doubt someone you throw into a commercial, right? What’s your roadmap for adding more NBA players?

I think it’s a fair statement. Listen, the first thing we were trying to do was to emotionally connect again and to get young. So the players that we’ve signed, like Nate Ament and Matas, these are young kids that we really feel speak to who we want to be as a brand.

We didn’t want to go out right away first day and sign some big NBA player. We wanted to connect a little more emotionally with some of the work you’re seeing, have younger players wear the product first and then start to build the roster. We’re hoping that a lot of the young players we’re signing: Grow with us and become big NBA players. But we’re in year one of a pretty long journey, and the goal was to be young.

You’re saying you want to be associated with the young players. You want to build these almost grassroots relationships and position yourself a little bit differently. How do you go about doing that in terms of marketing Reebok? 

We’re going to have marquee players wearing our shoes, but we may not have the traditional 30-second TV ad with the shoe. We believe that young basketball players today are consuming content a lot differently, and so we want to bring them along (on) the journey with us. Even when we launch signature products, it’s going to be a little bit different. It’s going to be more through the TikTok angle and more through these young players that we’re signing helping us tell the story.

So our first move was to sign Angel, who we feel is a great story, who has a backstory with Shaq, and to start with her as the first player. And now we’re signing more players, but the content is just going to be a little bit different. We’re going to be doing 10-second, 15-second, 20-second stories, versus a typical 30- or 60- (second) ad. And we’re going to build up to something.

We just feel like when you re-enter something like basketball, the idea of going out and spending $7 million on a player and then doing the shoes is so, I think, predictable, and I don’t think that’s where the young kid is today. We want to take it slow. We have some time to build this. We want to create the cultural currency with the athlete again.

What do you actually get out of the NIL deals with high school and college basketball players? 

I think you definitely see results when they’re in high school and college. I think that the community of basketball today, through social media, is so small that all the young players that we’re trying to connect with — meaning the ones who will buy our shoes — they all look at Nate (Ament), they all follow Nate. They follow Darius (Acuff). They follow their stories.

We know this when we talk to kids. When you sit around about 10 (or so) 16-year-old kids, you say, “Who are you really following right now?” They’re going to mention a bunch of high school kids or freshmen in college, maybe before an NBA player at the time, or with NBA players.

So I think the business is getting younger and younger. And if you’re a great high school player or a great freshman or sophomore in college, you are influencing a culture maybe as much, or in some cases, close to some of the best NBA players.

When you’re signing Nate Ament or Darius Acuff or you’re getting into this NIL space, how does the cost of signing a high school or college player compare to the cost of signing an NBA player? Are they earning the same in a shoe deal? Or are they earning half as much? How do those numbers compare?

If you are a big-time signature NBA guy with a Nike or Adidas or a Puma, you’re definitely making a lot more money. That’s definitely a different stratosphere. But if you are a kind of good NBA player that has a shoe deal, and you are a really good NIL player, the numbers can be very similar.

Then a lot of times what happens is you sign an NIL player, and then you can sign him while he’s in school, but you can also sign when he gets to the league. You can have one deal, and you have all types of stipulations about what will happen when he gets to the NBA. So you lock him up when he’s in high school or college, and then when he turns pro you have an agreement with him. It becomes like a new agreement with different stipulations, but you have like a long-term contract you can do. You don’t just have one from college. … If New Balance signs Cooper Flagg, who went to Duke, they’ve already figured out when he becomes a pro. We’re doing those deals as well.

But the NIL deals are very lucrative deals now. Again, it gets back to what I said earlier: Why would it be? Because a young, top-10 high school player that has highlights every week and is being recruited by the best schools in the country can be as influential as a starting-five player in a major market in the NBA.

(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

After going through the NBA Draft Combine/NBA Draft process, All-SEC guard Otega Oweh is returning to Kentucky for his senior season of college basketball. Oweh, who averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists last season, is set to be one of the premier faces of the sport this fall.

That means he can once again earn money through NIL. During a media opportunity on Tuesday, the Newark, NJ native was asked how NIL and money are changing college basketball.

“They’re paying us,” Oweh responded with a laugh. “That’s it. That’s a great thing for sure, but I don’t really be keeping up with the settlement stuff like that. As long as we’re getting paid, that’s good for me. Anything extra, that’s cool.”

The settlement Oweh is referring to is the House settlement. Judge Claudia Wilken approved that last Friday in the U.S. Northern District of California, marking a landmark decision in the history of college sports.

Since the NCAA was founded in 1906, institutions had never directly paid athletes. That will now change with the settlement ushering in the revenue-sharing era of college sports. Beginning July 1, schools will be able to share $20.5 million with athletes, with football expected to receive 75%, followed by men’s basketball (15%), women’s basketball (5%) and the remainder of sports (5%). The amount shared in revenue will increase annually.

That July 1 date is symbolic, as the NIL era began four years prior on July 1, 2021. That was the date that states enacting laws would allow college athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness rights. Since then, NIL collectives have formed, the transfer portal window was created and the House settlement was crafted.

“Nah, because when I came into college, that’s when NIL started,” Oweh said when asked if NIL had changed the locker room dynamic. “That’s what I’m used to, really. I’m a senior now, so the guys after me it’s going to be the same with them. It hasn’t really changed anything for me.”

Oweh, who currently has an On3 NIL valuation of $385k (thought that number is likely to rise), will be one of the senior leaders on Mark Pope‘s second roster at Kentucky.

Kentucky brought in the No. 2-ranked Transfer Portal class this offseason. The Wildcats signed guard Denzel Aberdeen (Florida), forward Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama), guard Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh), forward Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State), center Reece Potter (Miami OH) and forward Kam Williams (Tulane).

On3’s Pete Nakos contributed to this report.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State baseball junior shortstop Alex Lodise has been named the 2025 recipient of the Dick Howser Trophy as the national player of the year.
 
Lodise is the third player in program history to win the Dick Howser Trophy, along with outfielder J.D. Drew in 1997 and catcher Buster Posey in 2008. The prestigious award, presented annually since 1987 to college baseball’s best player by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), is named after FSU All-American shortstop (1955-58) and head coach Dick Howser (1979).
 
A shortstop from St. Augustine, Florida, Lodise already is a two-time First Team All-American, by the NCBWA and Perfect Game. He also is a finalist for two other national player of the year accolades, the Golden Spikes Award, which recognizes the best amateur player in the country, and the Brooks Wallace Award, which is presented to the nation’s top shortstop.
 
One of the nation’s most prolific hitters and best defenders, Lodise had a breakout 2025 campaign. He ranked No. 9 in the country in hits (95), No 11 in total bases (170) No. 12 in hits per game (1.64) and No. 23 in batting average (.394). Lodise was third in the ACC in RBI (68), fourth in slugging percentage (.705) and fifth in triples (3). He hit 17 home runs, had 18 doubles, scored 62 runs with 27 walks and was a perfect 6-of-6 in stolen base attempts. With a .977 fielding percentage, Lodise was part of 34 double plays and committed just five errors in 216 total fielding chances.
 
While starting all 58 of FSU’s games at shortstop, Lodise had at least one hit in 48 of those 58 games played, with 31 multi-hit games. He notched three or more hits in 13 games, which is more than the number of times he was held hitless (10) and almost as many games as he had just one hit (17). Additionally, Lodise is believed to be the first player in major college or professional baseball history to complete the cycle with a walk-off grand slam. The historic performance to beat rival Florida in his hometown of Jacksonville on March 25 was one of seven game-winning hits for Lodise in 2025.
 
The ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Lodise also was named the NCBWA District 3 Player of the Year. An NCBWA and Perfect Game First Team All-American and named to the Southeast All-Region First Team by the ABCA, Lodise was recognized as the midseason National Player of the Year and the country’s No. 1-ranked shortstop late in the season. He was selected as a team captain in 2025 for the Seminoles.
 
His two All-America honors this week come after he was named to one Freshman All-America team in 2023 at North Florida.
 
Lodise helped the Seminoles to a second consecutive NCAA Super Regional appearance in 2025 with a 42-16 record. As they both earned All-ACC honors, FSU went 17-10 in the conference and finished in second place with a .630 winning percentage. The ACC runner-up finish and No. 2 seed at the conference tournament were the team’s best since 2014.
 
For more information on Florida State baseball, check Seminoles.com for the latest news and scheduling information, and keep up with the team on social media through Twitter/X and Facebook (@FSUBaseball) & Instagram (@NoleBaseball).
 

The Super Football Conference—the largest high school football conference in the country—in collaboration with Accelerate Sports Ventures, one of the leading NIL strategy, revenue generation and, innovation advisory firms for colleges and high schools, announced the launch of the SFC Network, the official streaming home for premier high school football starting in New Jersey.

Recognized as one of the top high school football conferences in the nation, The SFC Network will stream coverage of New Jersey’s top-tier programs including, Bergen Catholic, Delbarton, Paramus Catholic, St. Joseph Regional, Don Bosco, Seton Hall Prep, St. Peter’s Prep, Pope John, DePaul, and others.

“We know how important New Jersey high school football is in our communities and can’t wait for our student-athletes, coaches, parents, alumni, and fans to experience the SFC Network,” says SFC President Tom Mullahey.

In partnership with the new venture with the Super Football Conference, Accelerate Sports Ventures will strategically advise the league by creating the operational engine behind the streaming platform. This includes securing corporate partnerships and investing capital as well as executing strategic branding and marketing efforts for the platform. In addition, Accelerate will also work with technology and production partners to deliver the highest quality production and customer experience.

“Now is absolutely the perfect time to launch the SFC Network,” says Doug Fillis, CEO of Accelerate Sports Ventures. “With the evolution of NIL and college football programs on the verge of revenue sharing, we must deliver a high-quality production so student-athletes in the SFC can take advantage of these new opportunities. The SFC Network and the high-quality content will not only help athletes find opportunities with NIL and revenue-sharing at the next level but also help players begin building their personal brands.”

The SFC and Accelerate have partnered with Varsity Media, a leading high school sports production company based in Long Island to produce each game. Hudl, the industry leader in sports technology, will act as the technology backbone of the platform for subscribers to watch on SuperFootballConferenceNetwork.com.  

“The game production that Varsity Media will deliver for SFC athletes will be outstanding. They bring a first-class reputation from the work they’ve done in Long Island and beyond,” the conference says. “Each game will feature professional announcers, multiple camera operators, a scoreboard, graphics, and a sideline reporter.”

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the 2025 men’s soccer schedule.
 
Coming off winning the Sun Belt Regular Season and Tournament titles, the Mountaineers will play 17 regular season matches, including 10 at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown. WVU will also play three exhibition matches before the season.
 

The year gets started with a preseason match on the road at Georgetown, Aug. 8. The Mountaineers will then host Montgomery College, Aug.12, and Robert Morris, Aug. 16.
 
The Mountaineers officially open the season with two home contests, beginning with Manhattan on Thursday, Aug. 21 before playing host to LaSalle on Sunday, Aug. 24.
 
WVU will then hit the road for a matchup with perennial power Akron on Friday, Aug. 29 before returning home for a contest against 2024 NCAA Tournament team Gardner-Webb on Wednesday, Sept. 3. A road match at defending Atlantic 10 champion George Mason follows on Sunday, Sept. 7.
 
It is then three straight matches at DDSS for the Mountaineers as California Baptist comes to Morgantown on Friday, Sept. 12, James Madison on Friday, Sept. 19 for the Sun Belt opener, and High Point, the defending Big South champions, on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
 
West Virginia heads to Orlando to take on UCF on Sunday, Sept. 28, before returning home on Saturday, October 4, for a game against Georgia Southern. Another road conference game at Coast Carolina follows on Friday, Oct. 10.
 
The final non-conference match of the season occurs on Tue. Oct. 14 as the Mountaineers host American. WVU will then go back on the road for a Sun Belt contest at Georgia State on Saturday, Oct. 18.
 
Two more Sun Belt matchups follow on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at home against Old Dominion before heading to Lexington to take on Kentucky, Sunday, Oct. 26.
 
The Mountain State Derby is on Friday, Oct. 31 as Marshall comes to Morgantown. The regular season concludes on Tuesday, Nov. 4 on the road at South Carolina.
 
All dates, times and locations are subject to change. Information about tickets for the 2025 home slate, will be announced at a later date.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.