University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Get First Impression Of Nike Uniforms
July 01, 2015 | General
July 1, 2015
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
-- Before the formal unveiling today, a select group of Tennessee student-athletes representing every team on campus received a first look at the new Volunteers Nike apparel in a photo and video shoot last month.The student-athletes were taken to a studio off campus in small groups where they were first shown the new uniforms their teams will sport in the 2015-16 school year, then given the opportunity to try them on for the shoot.
Senior softball player Rainey Gaffin was one of the first UT athletes to see a Nike Tennessee jersey in person.
"I don't think I could explain to you how excited I was to see the new uniforms," Gaffin said. "You know how your stomach kind of drops a little, like a good drop? You just imagine yourself being in it next year. I did. They just look so good. People are going to be looking at us."
Sophomore Jalen Hurd was the first Vol to don the new Nike football uniforms. As a lifelong Tennessee fan, being the first player to put on the jersey was even more meaningful.
"It's amazing," Hurd said. "Not many people get to say that they did that, especially transferring over to Nike. We're making this move and I'm one of the people that gets to show it off, it's pretty cool."
Lady Vol basketball's Diamond DeShields is no stranger to Nike apparel. The sophomore wore the brand competing with USA Basketball and as a freshman at North Carolina. As she prepares to suit up for Tennessee, she is excited to be wearing her favorite brand at her dream school.
"Nike is what's best in my opinion," DeShields said. "Nike is innovative and they press the envelope on everything that they do. The product that you get is going to be the best that they have available at that time, and they're going to keep on trying to make it better for their athletes. I'm happy to be a part of that."
DeShields was the first of three Lady Vols to see the new uniforms. Upon her return to campus, she crossed paths with teammates Bashaara Graves and Alexa Middleton as they made their way to the van to take off for their shoot.
Despite intense pressure from her teammates, DeShields kept mum on what she saw.
"I didn't want to take that away from them, I really didn't, because it's a great feeling when you first get to see them," she said. "I wouldn't want to take away from anybody. I think they'll be probably even more excited than I was. I was sweating before I even got to see it just because I love gear. I love to know what I'm going to be playing in, to know that I'm going to be looking good in something that I love to wear. It's like icing on the cake."
After seeing the uniforms for herself, Middleton was grateful for DeShields' restraint.
"I'm glad she didn't," Middleton said. "It was perfect. The Nike swoosh, my name, the number, the colors, the style, the design, everything looked great."
Graves had the same feeling.
"I was definitely surprised, especially when they brought out my jersey," she said. "Seeing my last name on it and seeing our colors was very exciting. I just smiled. That's all I could do because I've been waiting for this. This is my last year, and I get to play in Nike. It's just exciting."
The shoot itself was shrouded in secrecy. A UT van took the student-athletes to a studio off campus, a location so secretive that no one outside of the VFL Films and UT photographer crews were even given the address. Once there, everyone that entered had to surrender their phones before the uniforms came out of the box.
"The whole setup was pretty sick" soccer's Anna McClung said. "It was like a top-secret mission."
A top-secret mission to find a uniform that was perfect to a "T."
"They look crisp, they look clean," McClung said. "Being a girl, the fit is everything, and it was perfect. I couldn't ask for anything better."
Eve Repic was also impressed with the detail in the sport-specific fit of the tennis uniform she will wear on the court.
"Tennis clothes need to be fitting for our physique," Repic said. "The clothes hug your body in the right places. It's light material, so on these hot days when we're playing in SEC matches, it's going to be great. We can last in the third set and not feel like our clothes are holding us back."
Armani Moore loved the fit of his men's basketball uniform, but also had a keen eye for the intricate design details on the jersey and shorts he will wear for the Volunteers this season.
"My first impression of the uniform was that it was very nice," he said. "It looked like they took their time making the design. Our brand and our Power T was engraved in the jersey, I thought that very impressive."
And like every other student-athlete, Moore is just a little bit more excited to take the court this season to show off his new threads.
"Oh yeah," he said when asked if he was a big believer in the "Look good, play good" mantra that several of his fellow Vols stated after their photo shoots. "I think once you get your uniform together and you're looking good, it's got to rub off on us where we can play well."
