Penn State’s 33-year Nike era ended on Wednesday, as the university launched Adidas as its next official sponsor for all athletic wear and merchandise.
As a result of the change, Penn State Athletics released the new uniforms and merchandise under the new partnership.
For weeks, the media and fans have been speculating over what the Adidas era would look like, including talks about Penn State’s original pink and black colors. While there wasn’t a drastic change from the previous Nike apparel, here’s how I grade the new release of merchandise.
Football jersey: 9/10
Penn State football’s jerseys for sale under Adidas. (via Shop GoPSUSports)
The new jersey design is pretty much identical to Penn State’s under Nike, the only difference being the three stripes instead of the swoosh. That’s a good thing, though, as the Nittany Lions are known for their simple basic blues.
Primary t-shirt: 8/10
Penn State t-shirt released by Adidas in a merchandise drop on Wednesday. (via Shop GoPSUSports)
Once again, not much has changed from the Nike branded clothing. The color is the same and the logo is the same, but the Adidas logo centered on the shirt — which seems like the norm for a majority of the apparel — takes away from the Penn State theme a little bit.
Wordmark t-shirt: 5/10
Penn State t-shirt released in an Adidas merchandise drop on Wednesday. (via Shop GoPSUSports)
This is arguably my least favorite piece of merchandise from the entire adidas collection. As someone commented on a similar-looking shirt, “Are they members of Adidas or Penn State?”
Solid navy polo: 9/10
Penn State blue collared polo released in an Adidas merchandise drop on Wednesday. (via Shop GoPSUSports)
There’s nothing to dislike about this polo shirt. It follows the same standard sports-polo theme with the school logo on the left chest and company logo on the right.
Primary hoodie: 9/10
Penn State sweatshirt released in an Adidas merchandise drop on Wednesday. (via Shop GoPSUSports)
The hoodie falls in line with the rest of the new merchandise, with the Adidas logo sitting above the Nittany Lion head. Fortunately, the Penn State logo is much larger than the Adidas logo on this item.
Football t-shirt: 7/10
Penn State football t-shirt released in an Adidas merchandise drop on Wednesday. (via Shop GoPSUSports)
I like the creativity on the football t-shirt, but I think there’s still room to grow on the end product. Everything being stacked on top of one another inside the box just seems off.
Happy Valley blend t-shirt: 10/10
Penn State retro t-shirt released in an Adidas merchandise drop on Wednesday. (via Shop GoPSUSports)
This is easily my favorite shirt in the entire collection. Not only is it a new design as opposed to a recycled previous design with the Adidas logo, but it fills up the shirt and has a lot of creativity.
It also brings back some retro elements, something Adidas seems to want to do more of in the future.
Sleeveless hoodie: 9/10
Penn State white sleeveless hoodie released in an Adidas merchandise drop on Wednesday. (via Shop GoPSUSports)
One look at this and it screams Ryan Clanton. The Penn State logo looks quite small in the top corner, but overall looks clean against the white and light grey adidas logo.
Quarterzip pullover: 6/10
Penn State white quarterzip released in an Adidas merchandise drop on Wednesday. (via Shop GoPSUSports)
The cartoon depiction of the Nittany Lion is certainly a choice for the pullover. There’s little resemblance to the Nittany Lion mascot, it’s the wrong color navy and it doesn’t even say “PSU.”
Black polo: 10/10
Penn State black collared polo released in an Adidas merchandise drop on Wednesday. (via Shop GoPSUSports)
I wouldn’t be surprised if Matt Campbell were to sport this polo or something similar on gameday. After all, he frequently wore all-black attire at Iowa State.
The black polo offers a clean-looking, secondary alternative to the primary Penn State colors.
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