University of Akron

Name:	University of Akron
Short:	UA
Location:	Akron, Ohio
Team:	Akron Zips
Logo:	Zippy the Kangaroo
Colors:	Blue and Gold
Since:	2008
Website:	http://www.gozips.com

Information

The University of Akron’s athletic teams are known as the “Zips,” originally short for “Zippers,” rubber overshoes made by the BF Goodrich Company that were nationally popular in the 1920s and 1930s. The university’s mascot is “Zippy”, a kangaroo. Zippy is one of only a few female college mascots in the United States. The men’s basketball team is currently coached by Keith Dambrot. They have enjoyed success of late including four consecutive 20-win seasons and three consecutive appearances in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game. In 2009 they won their first-ever MAC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament for the first time since 1986. Akron is one of only two college basketball teams to wear the LJ23 brand (Ohio State is the other), but Zips followers claim him as their own. In 2008, when archrival Kent State visited Akron’s Rhodes Arena, students chanted, “LeBron’s a Zips fan.”

Nike partnership

In 2008 the Zips officially announced they had signed a three-year partnership to be outfitted by the LeBron James line by Nike. Under the new deal the Zips’ shoes, game uniforms, warm-ups and accessories will all be licensed under the Nike and LeBron James “LJ23” Trademarks. Nike has released several Zips themed versions of LeBron’s shoes. Some are available to the public, while others are exclusively for the members of the basketball team. The Akron campus also serves as the site of the LeBron James Skills Academy and the LeBron James King’s Academy each summer.

Shoes

Show Album Show Album Show Album Show Album Source: wikipedia, usatoday, gozips, lrj23.com.