Cassius Stanley is about the least under-the-radar high school basketball player in the country. Consider this: when he announced — via a very high-production-value video — that he will be attending Duke University and joining “the brotherhood” of Blue Devils, none other than NBA legend Dwyane Wade chimed in, liking Stanley’s jersey choice of #3. Stanley already has friends like Kobe Bryant and Russell Westbrook, and half a million followers on Instagram.
I love that number3️⃣ you’re gonna wear. Congrts YnG! https://t.co/EMucZEBDc3
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) April 23, 2019
Stanley took the entire monologue of his announcement video directly from Adidas, borrowing the Adidas “Impossible is Nothing” slogan which was named the best top marketing moment of the last 120 years. True, the impossible is nothing idea didn’t originate with Adidas — the shoe and apparel company borrowed it from the great Muhammad Ali, who also borrowed it. (The idea dates back at least to Achilles.) And Stanley has other reasons besides the inspirational message to choose this Adidas slogan: he memorably shares a first name with Ali’s given name — Ali was Cassius Clay before his conversion to Islam.
But watch out: Duke is a committed Nike school. (Just ask Zion Williamson!) Stanley’s announcement is essentially a free ad for Adidas — one he can’t be paid for, since he can’t do ads according to NCAA regulations. But with Duke in his future, what Cassius Stanley obviously meant to say was Just Do It. But he’ll soon get the hang of things in the big time marketing world. And he will continue to be a joy to watch play basketball.