Kentucky Basketball Breaks out Kobe 5 Protro PEs for the new NCAA Hoops Season

There are levels to the college basketball sneaker game. In the era of NIL, players are signing major deals with sneaker brands to rep their gear as young as high school. But at the school level, sneaker brands have campus-wide deals, and for the Blue Blood, major conference contenders, the sneaker brands go all out. While some Nike schools are suiting up new signature models like the Ja 3 and A’One, the national icons of the NCAA, Duke, USC, and Kentucky, are getting shipments of timeless heat, the Kobe 5 Protro.

The Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball teams joined Duke and USC by posting the school’s Nike Kobe 5 Protro PEs to Instagram, throwing them into a blue sky to match the Wildcat colorway. Starting with a blue perforated toecap, blue side and heel panels, and tongue, the support panels, lace panels, and sole are all clean white to match the team’s two-tone jerseys. The shoes are personalized for the Wildcats with a UK logo on the left tongue alongside a Kobe sheath logo on the right tongue.

Both the Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball teams started the season ranked, with the men’s team kicking things off at #9 in the country and the women at #24. Both teams started the season with a home win, and on the men’s side, Collin Chandler kicked things off with a bang, dropping in a highlight dunk so vicious it is already being called the poster of the year… one game into the season.

The Nike Kobe 5 Protro Kentucky PE won’t be released to the public, so your chances of adding a pair to the collection are slim to none. That said, the NCAA basketball season is just getting started, so expect to see these pairs on court more often and keep your eyes peeled to the Sole Retriever mobile app for more team-issued PEs popping up soon.

Zach Harris

Zach Harris is a writer based in Philadelphia. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Vice, Complex, High Times, and more. He is obsessed with skateboarding and bowling. He is still looking for his first 300. For tips, reviews, and anything in size 10.5 - zach.h@soleretriever.com