The coronavirus pandemic has changed how recruits announce their commitment. Gone are raucous parties and press conferences. In are socially distanced Tik Tok videos and custom-painted shoes. You read that right.
Two of Dawn Staley’s four birdies made their announcements this summer wearing custom-painted Gamecock shoes. Bree Hall of Dayton, OH, was the first to announce, sporting a pair of painted Air Jordans. Atlanta’s Raven “Hollywood” Johnson was the last birdie to go public, but she did it in style with a customized denim jacket and sneakers. Both were created by 39-year-old Atlanta artist Ced PolokingInk.
Ced began designing and painting shoes five years ago, and two years later it turned into a full-time occupation. He currently customizes shoes, jackets, shirts, and in a sign of the times, masks.
Ced has known Johnson’s family: he went to school with Johnson’s mother (and was quick to point out she was a good basketball player in her own right). He has customized a pair of shoes for Johnson’s uncle, and Ced previously customized a pair of Steph Curry 6s for Johnson (South Carolina outfitter Under Armour probably prefers this pair). That pair was based around her nickname: Hollywood.
She came back to Ced when it was time to announce her commitment, requesting a Gamecock-themed pair. This time she wanted to customize a pair of all-white Nike Air Force 1 high-tops. So Ced, who didn’t know that Hall had also requested a pair of custom shoes from another artist, went to Google to come up with ideas.
“I Googled the Gamecocks and a couple of logos came up and I went with the logos and everything else kind of came to me as I was going, like the green and pink lightning bolts,” Ced said. “
He included the Block C logo, the interlocking USC and SC logos, the arched Gamecock wordmark, and of course, a representation of the Hollywood sign, all surrounded by the lightning bolts.
“I didn’t want to do to much to take away from the shoe,” he said. “I tried to be as simple as possible because I wanted the white to pop.”
The shoes and jacket were both featured prominently in the video Johnson released following her announcement. Ced, who was at a gym preparing to paint a 60-foot mural when he talked to me, hopes the exposure will lead to more requests. He would love to design some shoes for Staley, a notorious shoe fanatic.
It took Ced about a day to customize Johnson’s shoes, but the normal turnaround for a pair of shoes is typically about a week depending on how many orders he has. He typically charges between $120-$200 for a pair of shoes, $80-$100 for a jacket, and $30 for a shirt, and the client supplies the shoes or jacket.
With the NCAA headed (kicking and screaming) toward changing its Name, Image, and Likeness rules allowing athletes to, essentially, profit from endorsements, there could be a burgeoning market for athletes to endorse artists like Ced. Consider it a toe in the water (no pun intended) for the giant contracts shoe companies already hand out to professional athletes.
“I’m ready for that,” he said. “That’d be perfect.”
Anyone interested in Ced’s work can contact him at his Instagram account ( www.instagram.com/polokingink )
