INDIANAPOLIS — Converse is paying homage to Crispus Attucks High School and its historic 1954-55 basketball team.
The Breaking Down Barriers Collection is Converse's effort to highlight some of basketball's most important moments of progress. That includes honoring Indiana's first all-Black basketball team, led by Oscar Robertson, to win a state championship.
Two styles of Attucks-themed sneakers are on sale now on Converse.com. One style — the Chuck 70 — features the classic, canvas high-top Converse design in vintage white with the tiger mascot on the tongue. The other — the classic Converse Pro Leather — is a high-top felt sneaker with a tiger mascot and a letter jacket-inspired "CA" on the back. Both designs have accents of the team's green and Amarillo colors, with four embroidered stars to represent the school's four state championships.
The Chuck 70 design is $85, and the Pro Leather design is $80.
Indianapolis Public Schools said Crispus Attucks Athletic Director Chris Hawkins shared the history of the school's basketball program with Converse and helped the team with the design for the shoe.
"This collaboration with Converse has been so special. From the opportunity to share the rich history of the Crispus Attucks basketball program to seeing that history woven into the design of these shoes has been remarkable," Hawkins said. "They’ve proven this campaign is about so much more than the game of basketball, they've invested in our school and our students to ensure they have the resources necessary to push past their own barriers in life. For that, we are grateful."
Converse donated $50,000 to the school's athletic program in correlation with the shoe release.
The Attucks-inspired sneakers are the second drop in the Breaking Down Barriers Collection. The first drop featured sneakers inspired by Springfield, Massachusetts, where basketball started. Future installments will include shoes inspired by the innovation of the basketball shoe, Julius Irving and the merging of the the National Basketball Association would with the American Basketball Association, and modern-day self-expression through basketball shoes.
