As our friends over at CBT noted earlier today, LeBron James received his very own locker inside the new Ohio State basketball facility, which was unveiled to the media on Tuesday.
You may recall that James never played college basketball anywhere, and didn’t attend the university in any capacity. But being from Akron, he’s always claimed it as his, and the program obviously appreciates the support he’s given -- emotionally, as well as financially.
From Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com:
The Buckeyes have given James a locker and it will be used to display James’ branded Nike gear the school uses to help in recruiting, coach Thad Matta told reporters in Columbus on Tuesday. Ohio State started wearing James’ signature uniforms and shoes in 2007. Matta made James an honorary member of the team at a ceremony in 2009.
“We always want to pay our respects to him for what he did for us in ’07, in terms of we were the first LeBron school,” Matta said. “And obviously we get tremendous product from him, and I know he’s very proud of what he does for us.”Initially, it may have seemed like an odd choice. But anything that helps land top recruits is going to be considered, and given LeBron’s stature as the best basketball player on the planet, having a shrine to him inside the locker room is only going to help those efforts.