Look: Columbus (Florida) gets 'breathtaking' Nike World Headquarters experience at LSI holiday basketball tournament
The Nike World Headquarters might as well be Wonka's Factory to the country's top high school basketball players.
Out-of-state teams invited to Oregon for the Les Schwab Invitational are treated with a golden ticket in the form of a behind-the-scenes experience at the global athletic apparel giant's campus, which dwarfs many of the country's biggest college campuses.
Nike's campus is technically closed the week after Christmas, but the Les Schwab Invitational rolled out the red carpet for Columbus (Florida), Harvard-Westlake (California), Perry (Arizona) and Mt. Spokane (Washington) on Thursday, rotating the teams through.
The top girls teams in Portland for the POA Holiday Classic across town — nationally ranked Archbishop Mitty (California), Mater Dei (California) and DeSoto (Texas) — also took part.
For basketball players everywhere, sneakers are a cultural touchpoint.
Junior Cameron Boozer's favorite shoes to hoop in are the Kobe Grinches. The nation's top 2025 prospect's favorite streetwear shoe? Off-White Jordan 1s.
For Cayden Boozer, Cameron's twin brother, he prefers the Jordan Tatum 1s for the court because Columbus is sponsored by Jordan (though his favorite shoes when he's not on the court are crocs).
"It was amazing," said Columbus senior guard Randy Smith, who grew up in Georgia and had never been to Portland. "Breathtaking experience, man."
Added Cayden Boozer, who helped No. 9 Columbus (11-4) win the 2023 LSI championship Saturday: "The facility is insane."
Players practiced in the window-draped Coach K gym, took a tour of the larger-than-life, hidden-behind-hedges company grounds and took part in a focus group for a behind-the-scenes peek at unreleased products.
All in all, they gave athletes small a taste of what it's like to be Nike signature athlete.
"They asked us input on certain things to see how they could get more younger generations to get into their clothes more," Smith said.
Added Boozer, succinctly: "A lot of great drip out there."
Most players were in their first visit to Portland or first trip to Nike's campus, though Columbus senior Jase Richardson, a Michigan State commit, and his younger brother Jaxon Richardson, a 5-star sophomore, got the experience twice — first at the 2022 LSI when they played for Bishop Gorman.
Nike sponsors and plays a heavy hand in setting the field for the Les Schwab Invitational. Scan the logos of each team's jersey each year, and three stripes, Pumas and inverted Us are hard to find.
Most teams are Nike Elite high schools, a tag Nike doles out somewhat selectively.
Here are photos from the visit:
All photos by Naji Saker.
-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveor
