Ben Anderson: Utes commit has beef with Lavar Ball; Jimmer gets signature shoe


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SALT LAKE CITY — If you haven’t been paying attention to footwear since, oh, let's say 1984, you may have missed the fact that basketball shoes have taken over the world. The first Air Jordans were released by Nike in 1984 and have since sold more than $3 billion worth of shoes.

The brand has helped make Michael Jordan, the shoe's namesake, a billionaire and the envy of shoe companies everywhere, including recent startups like the Big Baller brand, owned by the now infamous Lavar Ball.

Monday night, the Utes received the commitment of a big-time high school basketball recruit: Timmy Allen, from Mesa, Arizona. It was a nice reversal of fortune for the Utes, who have often found themselves losing players to the University of Arizona. Allen is a four-star commit, according to ESPN, and the Utes had to beat out several high-profile schools, including UCLA, Iowa State and San Diego State, for his services.

It capped off an impressive week of recruiting for the Utes, who also added guards Devante Doutrive and Naseem Gaskin.

Back to Lavar Ball.

The Big Baller brand creator and father of the second pick in this summer’s NBA draft, Lonzo Ball, has a long history of public feuds with other big names in the sports world. Ball has had spats with names like Jordan himself, Shaquille O’Neal, Joel Embiid, Stephen A. Smith, Kristine Leahy and many, many more.

He also happens to be the head coach of the AAU basketball team of his UCLA-bound son, LaMelo. LaMelo has attracted a lot of attention for his play, see his 2.5 million Instagram followers, but more so because of the antics of his father.

It will work out for him in the end, regardless of whether he makes the NBA or not. The youngest Ball brother has enough of a celebrity persona to market himself and make a healthy living, even if he never reaches the heights on the basketball court that his oldest brother has, now in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform.

However, it’s also made him and his father a target both on and off the floor.

That includes new University of Utah commit Allen, whose Compton Magic AAU team faced off against the Ball family earlier this year.

Here is a highlight video of the altercation.

As you can see, Allen (No. 23) beats LaMelo Ball (No. 1) down the floor, and finishes the impressive dunk. Then, possessions later, he stays with LaMelo Ball defensively and blocks his shot out of the air. Allen proceeds to bark at the elder Ball. Allen’s team demolished the Ball family 109-57.

Utes fans should be happy to see Allen with the type of tenacity he showed in this game, not backing down from bigger names that he will surely face off against in the Pac-12. But more importantly, they should be excited about adding a prospect of this caliber to their 2018 roster.

Speaking of shoes, and local basketball players, former BYU guard and the 2011 college basketball National Player of the Year Jimmer Fredette is getting into the shoe game.

Fredette spent last season with the Chinese Basketball Association’s Shanghai Sharks and has a similar following in China to the one he had here in Utah during his historic run on the court. Fredette won the regular season MVP with the Sharks, and he has earned the name of "The Lonely Master" among his teammates.

On Monday, Chinese shoe brand 361 released a signature shoe for the former Cougar.

> Over in China, Jimmer Fredette just unveiled his own signature shoe with Chinese brand 361, and they're kinda fire. Thoughts? [pic.twitter.com/0vtOvoNMII](https://t.co/0vtOvoNMII) > > — Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) [September 19, 2017](https://twitter.com/NickDePaula/status/909931141825650688)

While the Jimmer sneakers may never take off like fellow CBA star Stephon Marbury’s Starbury brand did, they will almost certainly cost less than the Big Baller brand sneakers, which range from $395 up to more than $1,200.

I’ve still never seen a pair of Big Baller shoes in person, and honestly, I’m not sure I ever will with those price tags.

However, with Christmas just around the corner, I’m bracing myself for an onslaught of 361 brand Jimmer Fredette signature models to fill LDS Church ward ballgames in no time.

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Ben Anderson

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