Headbands to socks -- a sports fashion show

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 21, 2007 by JAKE SCHALLER THE GAZETTE

Ask Nick Welch, Matt Mc-Craw, Anwar Johnson -- pretty much any Air Force men's basketball player preparing for tonight's National Invitation Tournament game against DePaul -- and they'll tell you the rules.

You can wear white socks with white basketball shoes. You can wear black socks with black basketball shoes. You can even wear black socks with white basketball shoes.

But white socks with black basketball shoes?

That's like wearing white after Labor Day or a polka-dot tie with a plaid shirt. It's a strict fashion no-no.

"Black socks with black shoes is a must," McCraw said. "You can't wear white socks with black shoes."

"No, you can't," Johnson said.

Perhaps more than any other sport, fashion has become intertwined with basketball. And despite the uniformed nature of the academy, the Falcons are part of the trend.

"Basketball players, I think, are more into style than any other sport," Welch said. "It's something we're definitely con- scious about -- going out there and looking good."

It's obvious when one considers how many jerseys professional teams wear -- home, road, alternate, throwbacks -- and the different accoutrements NBA players have made fashionable. Last year, wearing tights underneath shorts was popular before the style was banned. Headbands are back in vogue. Many players wear long sleeves on one arm, as made popular by Allen Iverson.

And shoes? Most players who have endorsement deals unveil a new style every year.

"Guys have unbelievable amounts of shoes," said Welch, who said he owns "probably an embarrassing amount -- probably about 30 or 40 pairs. And I only play with three or four of them."

But even the best shoes can be ruined by the wrong socks.

"Pistol" Pete Maravich was famous for his offensive flair and floppy socks in the 1970s. Michael Cooper, who helped the Los Angeles Lakers win five NBA titles in the 1980s, told a reporter that he started wearing his socks to his knees at Pasadena High School so his grandmother -- whose vision was limited by cataracts - - could distinguish him on the court.

Black socks were made popular 15 years ago by Michigan's fabled Fab Five, a quintet of top-flight recruits who arrived in Ann Arbor in 1991 and took the college basketball world by storm. All five were starters midway through their first season, and they led the Wolverines to back-to-back NCAA championship games.

Years later, their trips to consecutive Final Fours have been erased from the record books because of NCAA infractions. But their impact on college basketball fashion remains.

The Fab Five took baggy shorts, made popular by Michael Jordan, to a new level -- or make that, a new length. The shorts worn by the five players extended all the way to -- and sometimes below -- their kneecaps. Today, a pair of shorts that does not come close to the knees might as well be a Speedo, as far as players are concerned.

Michigan's trend-setters first wore black socks as sophomores in their season opener. According to Mitch Albom's book "Fab Five," only the five starting sophomores wore the socks -- and without the permission of the coaching staff.

But it didn't take long before black socks were cool.

"Black socks were what nonplayers used to wear until the Fab Five put them on," said San Diego State coach Steve Fisher, who coached the Fab Five at Michigan. "And then Nike made a killing off of black socks being marketed."

McCraw often wears black socks with his white shoes because his black socks are longer than his white socks and they cover his ankle tape, which he doesn't like to show.

But his black socks are nowhere near as long as the kneehigh black socks senior forward Jacob Burtschi has worn for road games this year. Once in fashion, long, high socks are rare on the court today -- and not exactly considered the most stylish.

"Not pimpin' with me," Mc-Craw said of Burtschi's socks. "Not going with me. I just can't wear high socks -- not that high. I don't think it would look right on me, so we'll just keep that with Jake."

Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik said he doesn't care what color socks his players wear -- nor their length. He also is unconcerned about whether players wear T-shirts underneath their jerseys. Bzdelik keeps the rules simple: no headbands and no names on the back of jerseys.

"Nobody's going to wear a headband as long as I'm coaching," he said. "To me, something like that, you individually want to draw attention to yourself. And you should draw attention to yourself by your play, not by what you want to wear that's different from what your teammates wear. And that's how I also look at the names on the back of the jersey."

McCraw said he and his teammates wanted to have names on their jerseys "not only for ourselves but for our families."

"Looking on the TV and seeing 'McCraw' on the back or 'Nwaelele,' you know," McCraw said of fellow starter Dan Nwaelele. "Our families, it would kind of bring a smile to their face.... (Parents) could say, 'That's my son, look.'... But coach said no -- no last names because we're all family, and it's more about the name on the front than the name on the back, which is good. I definitely respect his decision on that."