At the end of George Dohrmann’s grassroots exposé—the heartbreaking tale of Demetrius Walker, a talented young player led astray by his cutthroat coach—there’s little question that the system, a sullied morass of shady shoe company-funded coaches, confused and greedy parents, and ambitious but naïve boys, is broken. “I would never have guessed that [shoe companies’] viral marketing goals would involve kids in middle school, that executives at Adidas would be discussing…ways [Demetrius] could help them move product,” says Dohrmann, adding that “current reform efforts are a joke because they don’t curb the influence ...
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