David Oliver is a decorated athlete, winning a bronze medal in the 110 Hurdles at the medals at the Beijing Olympics in 20028. He also took gold in the 60 Meter Hurdles at the USA Indoor Championships in the same year. Oliver took bronze the same event at the 2010 World Championships and claimed the gold in the 110 hurdles at the 2013 World Championships.
Oliver became Howard’s Director for Track & Field Progeam in 2017 and in his time the program has seen over 35 athletes receive MEAC honours and multiple record breaking performances.
The sneaker world may recongnize Coach Oliver from his unboxing of the “Howard” Air Jordan 6 from a few weeks ago. Recently I got the chance to briefly pose a few questions about sneakers the unboxing and being a Jordan Brand school to the the Olympian, Champion and MEAC Hall of Famer
Below are Coach Oliver’s answers:
Were you a Jordan fan growing up?
A fan of Jordan the player growing up? Not necessarily. My favorite player growing up was Larry Johnson of the Hornets. I was a big fan of the sneakers though, but we could never afford those growing up, so I just daydreamed about them while thumbing through the Eastbay magazine.
Did you get into sneakers during your teenager years? Were you or are currently into sneakers?
I wouldn’t say I was a “sneaker head” during my teenage years. I loved shoes, so I would work all summer during my high school days in order to cop some sneakers, clothes and football accessories. I was a Reebok fan, I had the Classics and the Muggsy Bogues’. When Converse dropped the “Grandmama’s” I had to get those too. I still wanted Jordan’s but never had a pair until my sophomore year at Howard when I copped a pair of Retro 9s from Sports Zone on Georgia Ave back in ’02. Going pro and becoming a Nike athlete for 13 years gave me all the access I could desire, so I probably own about 100 pairs of Jordan’s right now.
The unboxing video of the Air Jordan 6 you did made some waves, did you have any idea they would send you that and how did that come about, them sending you the sneakers and deciding to do the video?
The unboxing was a fun video to do, I have to give all the credit for that to my wife, I am not that social media savvy. I didn’t have a clue they were going to send me those amazing items, I assume being a prominent Howard Alum within athletics had a lot to do with it.
Howard entering into the partnership with Jordan brand was certainly newsworthy, not only in the HBCU realm, but also in the sneaker space. As this was a big deal, what has been the vibe regarding the partnership amongst the athletes?
I have had a great relationship with the brand for a while, so I was beyond ecstatic that we were making the switch to Nike/Jordan. It was a HUGE deal. Howard University is the pinnacle of success and deserves to be associated with other brands that epitomize a high level of success as well. The vibe on campus has been great, I can’t wait to see what the future beholds.
