Black Market. Merl Code.

 

 

Black Market.   Merl Code.

An Insider’s Journey into the High-Stakes World of College Basketball.

 

Merl Code Jr. really does take the reader behind the scenes when it comes to how shoe companies conduct their business of promoting players and their vast assortment of products.     However, it is not truly accurate to suggest this book is strictly about college basketball.   Yes, Code Jr. was a ball player.   He had plenty of contact with pro prospects, as well players/coaches at both the college and high school level.    But the author was never a coach, administrator or analyst at the collegiate level.   What he did do was act as a consultant and executive for athletic shoe companies that were constantly pushing their new products to athletes across the nation in hopes of landing into the industry leading position.  

We do learn in this edition that Code jr. was convicted of defrauding Universities by compromising players and their so-called amateur status.    The author does not talk about the experience of his incarceration but his innocence was proclaimed and repeated throughout the 284 pages.   While he acknowledges that he went against the NCAA rules at the same time breaking no legal laws in the process.    There may be truth to this often-cited claim at least according to his side of the story.

While reading about his upbringing and experiences throughout his career drive the book from start to finish, the reader is actually introduced to some history of athletic shoes.   This includes the origin of Converse and Keds in early 20^th century Massachusetts that likely held the nations the first “sneaker war”.   In fact, we learn where the Chuck Taylor brand was derived as he became one of the early traveling shoes salesmen.    By connecting with coaches, Taylor garnered enough attention and merit to have his name placed on the shoes—a forerunner of how the industry is run today.   Code regales the reader with even more sagacity about other competitors including Nike and Adidas, both of which he was formerly employed.     

Code also provides history of how the numerous prep tournaments came to light and have become an important marketing tool for shoe companies and recruiting event for college coaches.   Events such as the Peach Jam, EYBL and Hoop Jamboree displayed many prominent young players.   Of course, there was the business of the finances to run these events—some interesting examples in the latter part of the book.  Furthermore, many of the prominent AAU teams are mentioned in the book as well including several New York based organizations like the Gauchos, Albany City Rocks, Long Island Lightening and Playaz in New Jersey.     The author expertly lays out how these operations are conducted from expense to logistics and even outside distractions.   

The book is written in an often-bumptious conversational tone.   It also feels a bit disjointed at times.   Code flashes back to his playing days and then to the pre-trial preparations.    Then shifts back to consulting experiences that occasionally drift away from the point of the book.   Unfortunately for Code and others in their legal defense they were not allowed to argue how the current system had taken advantage of mostly young, poor minority student athletes.    Further wrecking the defense was the inadmissible involvement of college head and assistant coaches.     This, according to the author, led to a need for a scapegoat in this sweeping turn of events.   Somebody was responsible for fraud and other legal violations---that being the street agents and shoe company consultants arraigned in the ordeal.  

Is the purpose of the book to vindicate Merl Code of any legal wrong doing, educate the fans/readers how the underbelly conflates shoes and hoops or simply to exacerbate how the system defies NCAA rules and stays above the legal limits of the law?   Whatever the case, it is not clear.  Could be all of the above but more likely a precautionary tale of good intentions landing in an awkward position.

The book does offer a peak behind the curtain for the casual or eager fan wanting to learn more.   However, while an interesting and maybe even peculiar story, the book does not truly vindicate the author and nor does it offer constructive changes that might eliminate the exploitation of prep and college student athletes, although the advent of the NIL is mentioned.    Not surprisingly, the book features esteemed endorsements on the back cover but this is a tale worth exploring mostly for those who have insatiable desires to learn of shoe companies, tournaments and hustles.  

·         You might like to read this book if you are a fan of high school or college basketball. 

·         You might like to read this book if you are fan of pro basketball players. 

·         You might like to read this book if you are a fan of reading about shoe companies and how they market their products. 

·         You might like to read this book if you are interested to read about how shoe companies often work hand-in-hand with universities.