With Nevada moving to adidas, here’s a look back at the Wolf Pack’s great Nike uniforms

The University of Nevada announced a multi-year apparel partnership with adidas on Wednesday, marking the end of a longtime relationship with Nike. The deal will begin July 1 and run through the 2024-25 season, per the athletic department’s official release.

Under any normal circumstances, a mid-major school inking a new apparel deal would be a good thing. But it’s this author’s opinion that Nevada’s departure from Nike is, in fact, Not Good. It brings an end to one of the great uniform eras in all of college basketball:

The Wolf Pack rose to a new level as a program last year, but what might be lost on the casual fan is how many different uniforms Nevada had. The Wolf Pack opened the 2017-18 season by donning seven different uniforms in the first seven games, and — if that wasn’t enough — eventually introduced two state pride uniforms and a Lake Tahoe-themed grey alternate throughout the course of the season. Again, we’re talking about a mid-major college basketball team, not Oregon football.

The best part? There wasn’t a bum uniform in the bunch.

The Wolf Pack have housed your favorite team and looked pretty damn good every single time — I mean, just look at their excellent use of script throughout their wardrobe:

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

They even perfected the grey uniform (with multiple shades!), which is difficult to do without either looking like these aptly-dubbed “trashbag” Dallas Mavericks uniforms, or accentuating sweat marks over the course of the game:

Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

But Nevada’s regional pride made the Pack’s uniforms stand out in more ways than one. Their commitment to weaving motifs and symbolism by borrowing from the state flag, Nevada’s Native American population, and more was unrivaled in college basketball. In a world where mid-major programs usually stick with merely a white “home” and a dark “away” tandem, the creativity shown by Nevada and Nike was a breath of fresh air.

If there’s any consolation from the switch, the higher-ups at adidas are still willing to be creative with future uniforms. In the university’s aforementioned official release, adidas director of NCAA Sports Marketing Jim Murphy said the brand will “bring our creativity and collaborative efforts” to Nevada, which hopefully means more kits inspired by the state, its people and its natural resources.

It’s anyone’s guess as to what the partnership will bring, but the general public will have to wait.