Detroit Titan Hoops

by Jeff (titanman) Truant

While attending the Titan Tip-Off event back in October, I noticed a small banner hanging from the second level of Calihan Hall that referenced a sportswear company, Moneyball Sportswearup. I made note of the name and looked it up on the Internet when I returned home later that evening. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the company was owned and run by our own Desmond Ferguson. Intrigued, I emailed Desmond to ask him a few questions. We started at first to talk about his business and then segued into a discussion of his time at U of D. Below is a transcript of some of the emails that flowed back and forth between us.  If there are any errors or omissions, they are inadvertent and solely my responsibility.

JT: I’ve gone through the Moneyball Sportswear site and understand the basics of the story behind the “Moneyball” nickname.  In your own words could you explain and elaborate?

DF: Well “Moneyball” was a nickname that was given to me during my senior year of high school while playing AAU ball with Team Michigan.  We had an amazing AAU team with Robert Traylor, Kevin Garnett, Terrence Roberson, Albert White and Jermaine Jackson just to name a few. We had a tournament in Solon, OH and I was hitting long jump shots from beyond NBA 3-point range and Kevin Garnett started screaming “MONEYBALL” every
time I shot and the name kind of stuck. All of my teammates began to call me Moneyball and the rest is history!

JT: What led you to start/get involved with a sportswear company?

DF: While playing my first season professionally in Holland I had a lot of downtime and began to think about how I wanted to invest my money or what type of business that I eventually wanted to begin.  Because of my love for basketball, I knew that I wanted to be involved
in basketball in some type of way. The idea of basketball uniforms came to mind and I just did some research and saw that I may be able to find my niche in basketball apparel. Also, I’ve seen too many athletes find themselves lost after they are finished playing sports. They do not plan for the day when they can no longer pick up a ball and play basketball, and then find themselves in a bad financial situation. I knew that I didn’t ever really want to work for anyone and that I wanted to position myself to make a smooth transition after I’m
finished playing this game that I love, so in 2002 Moneyball Sportswear is what I decided to invest my time and money into.

JT: What does Moneyball Sportswear do to differentiate itself from Nike, Adidas, Reebok, And1, Under Armour, etc.?

DF: Moneyball Sportswear really focuses on developing good, sound relationships with our customers and potential customers. This is really big for us. We have an advantage being a small business because we deal with our customers one on one. I try to meet with as many of our customers as possible. Nike, Adidas, Reebok, And1, etc. more than likely doesn’t have the president of their company sitting down face to face with all of their customers. Me being the President of Moneyball Sportswear, this is what I do, especially in the Michigan area. As we continue to grow throughout the country, that may become a little more difficult, but we really stress the importance of customer relationships. I know that may sound a little cliché, but it’s very true and important. Also, Moneyball Sportswear specializes in custom-
made basketball uniforms. We are different from these other companies because we offer a high quality customized basketball uniform at a lower rate than our competitors.

JT: How are the clothing designs handled? Is it something that is outsourced or handled in-house? Where is everything manufactured? Where do you hope to see the company in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?

DF: Moneyball Sportswear custom basketball uniforms, shooting shirts and warm-ups are manufactured in Asia. Our goal as a company is obviously to grow each and every year and become a major player in the basketball apparel business worldwide, to expand our clientele and become more profitable as we grow. We are in the process of expanding the Moneyball line to other sports such as soccer, football, basketball, volleyball, cheerleading, etc., so overall growth is our main objective in the years to come.

Switching gears, I then asked Desmond a few questions about his time at U of D.

JT: What initially led you to the University of Detroit Mercy?

DF: During my freshman season at Missouri University when I decided I wanted to transfer, U of D was at the top of my list. Upon getting my release from the University of Missouri I had my AAU coach, Rocky, check out the schools that I was looking into transferring to. There
were three things that played a major role in me transferring to U of D:
      1. My relationship with Jermaine Jackson, from us playing AAU ball together. I knew  he   could play and wanted to win, plus I knew he could get me the ball so I could shoot (laughing).
     2. The coaching staff. I was well aware of the great things that Coach Watson had done as a coach and the players that he had coached in the past. I also had a good relationship with Coach Greer from when he was at Akron University and he was recruiting me while I was in high school. 
     3. I had a chance to come home and play in front of family and friends, so that’s always a plus. I saw that U of D had the makings of becoming a really good team because of some of the players that were on the team, and indeed that was the case.

JT: What did you take away from the school during your time there?

DF: The biggest thing that I have taken away from U of D is my Business Administration/Accounting degree. The things that I learned
in the classroom have helped me as a businessman. Also, the relationships that were established while at U of D will last a lifetime, and are very valuable to me. That’s why I base Moneyball Sportswear on building great relationships to this day.

JT: During your time there, how did you feel the program compared to
other mid-majors?

DF:From the educational standpoint, U of D was great for me because the classrooms weren’t too big and you could get the additional
attention that you needed and you weren’t just a number like I was when
I was 1 of 200 students in the classroom at Missouri. But from a basketball standpoint, we were different from other mid-majors because of the type of players that we had. Many of our players were high major players. Jermaine Jackson could have played in the Big 10, but he chose to play for U of D. Derrick Hayes transferred from Iowa State (High Major); Rashad Phillips could have went to many big time universities. I was a transfer from Missouri. We just had some great players that were hungry, tough, and that wanted to win all the time. We had a special group of guys that just doesn’t come around too often at the mid major level.

JT: What do you consider to the highlight of your NCAA career?

DF: The highlight of my NCAA career was by far both trips that we made to the NCAA tournament and winning those first round games. When we went in 1998 that was special because we lost in the MCC tournament
in the second round, and usually in our conference, if you don’t win the conference tournament championship, you don’t go to the field of 64. But because of our great record we go selected on Selection Sunday to be in the NCAA tournament. That was a highlight in itself as we were one of the teams ESPN selected to broadcast live as we saw our team name go up on the screen and we jumped and yelled in excitement as Dick Vitale talked to us live. Then to go in the game against St. Johns as underdogs (they had future NBA players Felipe Lopez, Zendon Hamilton and Ron Artest) and beat them, there is nothing like it. Then in 1999 we took care of business again. We had a great record but we also won the conference title, so we knew we were going to go to the
NCAA tournament, we just didn’t know who we would play. The to play UCLA in the first round (with future NBA players Baron Davis, Dan Gadzuric, Jerome Moiso and Earl Watson) and beat them, that was such a great feeling. The memories that I have from those two years are historical and will last a lifetime.

JT: How do you feel about the current state/position of the program?

DF: I feel that the program is in a transitional stage right now. Obviously, the basketball program has been down a little bit from the
later 90;s and early 2000’s seasons, but I see the program coming back to where it once was. Things happen in cycles. I think Coach McCallum and his staff are doing a good job of bringing excitement back to the program and will be able to get players that can compete at a high level. I think it’s just a matter of time before you will see U of D back in the NCAA tournament. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so it will take a little time but I am very optimistic about the program becoming a major player on the national level once again.

I want to thank Desmond for his time and patience in answering my
questions. He’s truly a class act. I would also encourage all Titan
fans to visit www.moneyballsportswear.com.

2 Comments »