For LN athletic director Mike Penrose, signing on the dotted line to put into place an agreement between LN athletics and Under Armour was a no-brainer.

“Being able to have these kinds of agreements, companies want to be able to come in and promote their image, obviously, with us, and Under Armour is a company that young people identify with,” Penrose said.

Notable professional athletes with deals with Under Armour include two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry, NFL MVP Cam Newton, former world number-one golfer Jordan Spieth, former MLB MVPs Bryce Harper and Clayton Kershaw and former NHL MVP Carey Price. The Barclay’s Premier League’s Tottenham Hotspur and collegiate athletic programs at UCLA, Maryland, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Auburn are all outfitted by Under Armour as well.

Within the state of Indiana, Lawrence Central has a contract with Adidas and Center Grove is sponsored by Nike, guaranteeing that the influence of major apparel companies will most certainly be felt on the turf, hardwood or fairways of the MIC.

The agreement with Under Armour will give LN a discount of at least 10% off any of the company’s apparel and equipment purchased through the supplier BSN Sports. BSN had been used in the past in conjunction with only specific sports at LN, namely baseball. LN also receives a bonus at the end of each year, depending on the total number of sales, able to be used by the entire athletic program.     

“We want to be able to do whatever we can to outfit our coaches and our athletes the best way we possibly can and if we can do that and be able to get equipment and apparel at a cheaper cost, then we’re gonna do that,” Penrose said.

Penrose believes the deal will also streamline the process of getting consistent, proper and matching equipment and uniforms.

“Right now it seems like each coach and each booster club has their own guy and there’s a lot of different people out there that we order through, and in terms of billing and paying people, that can be very confusing…and if we go through one primary vendor, it cuts down on a lot of issues in terms of billing and payment,” Penrose said.

While LN athletics has not recently had a sponsorship with a major apparel company, the idea is not brand-new, Penrose said.

“It’s very common that big schools have agreements with certain apparel companies. [Former LN athletic director Grant] Nesbit was debating whether to do it before he left and then when I took over last year, it’s kind of something I took over. I thought this would be a good opportunity to do something like this,” Penrose said.

The agreement with Under Armour and BSN is not a destination, but rather a path to achieve future goals, Penrose said.

“I want to see all of our athletes, hopefully in the next year or two, in the same kind of apparel, in the same kind of green and the same kind of red…If you’re going through one vendor, you’re going to know what the green and the red is going to look like,” Penrose said.