Originally published in 2017
Straight out of Spokane, Gonzaga may now be a Nike Elite school with #1 tourney tagging, but it wasn’t always that way. Wearing the Cinderella slipper for much of the ’80s, ’90s and early ’00s, the team was defined by a rotating roster of scrappy, shaggy haired stars with perhaps none better than Dan Dickau.
Following a college start at Washington, the transfer became a household name with the Zags, running the point for the bracket-busting squad and doing so in some surprising sneaker heat. Now running a barber shop and buying his kids Js, hear how the All-American laced retro Jordans for the Jesuit powerhouse and scored Shox early for his prolific play.
Air Jordan 11 “Columbia”
Dan Dickau: “Those were hard to get at the time. Nike sent a pair to me and I was able to find a pair as well at a store somehow — like, I just caught perfect timing heading into the store. Obviously, Gonzaga was a big Nike school, so I occasionally got an extra pair sent my way. That would’ve been my junior year. Those were the best Jordans to me, hands down. The Concords were awesome but the Columbias were something special to me. I still have those to this day just because the meaning that they have with playing in the NCAA Tournament in them. I believe I had all my teammates sign those, too.”
Jumpman Pro Shake
Dan Dickau: “They were more of a team issue shoe with some dark blue that matched Gonzaga’s uniform. Those were a really good shoe. I wore those my senior year and had teammates sign them, too. They had the concrete look with the elephant print and I wore them a lot my senior year. I found that I liked them and they kept sending them to me throughout the season. But Gonzaga was different then from what it is now. We had a great relationship with Nike but we weren’t a Nike Elite school at that time. Now Gonzaga is an Elite school and they get their numbers and initials on it and their pick of what they want. We didn’t have that so anything we got that was a little extra was pretty exciting to a college kid at that time.”
Nike Shox BB4
Dan Dickau: “We got those for the NCAA Tournament my junior year and I think I wore those against Michigan State in the Sweet 16. The squad MSU had that year was loaded. They had Zach Randolph as a freshman, Jason Richardson, Marcus Taylor, Charlie Bell, Aloysius Anagonye who was a great college player and Andre Hutson. Just an unbelievable deep and physical college basketball team.”
“We were super excited to get those shoes because they were the new hot shoe and not every program got those. You know, good shoe but looking back there’s a reason why the Shox kind of went away. They weren’t great, but they were interesting. It was an interesting idea behind them and they weren’t the most comfortable, but they had a cool look to them, that’s for sure.”
Air Jordan 4 White/Cement
Dan Dickau: “The 4s were awesome, those might be my favorite shoe of all time just off the look. I wore those in high school and those were off the charts good. If I could find those now — which I’m sure I could if I put in a little bit of effort — I’d wear those to play pickup in, I’d wear those with almost anything. Those are great shoes. They keep reissuing a number of these shoes which brings back great memories. I’ve actually started to get my sons a few of the Jordans, but as you know sneaker collecting is pretty expensive. [Laughs]”
“When it came to hoops, Jordan was obviously the end all be all, but I knew I wasn’t going to be a 6’6 above the rim athlete like Jordan. I loved John Stockton, Chris Mullin and being from the Portland area I was a big Terry Porter fan. Then some other point guards like Rod Strickland, Mark Price, Tim Hardaway — those were guys that I loved to watch their games. But shoe wise, I think every kid remembers the first pair of Jordans that you get and for me it was the 4s in White/Black-Red. In 6th grade I was able to get those and I felt like the second I put those on that I could jump higher, handle the ball faster and cut quicker. I felt like I was unstoppable.”
Nike Air Holistic Uptempo
Dan Dickau: “Those were a Nike team-issued shoe. Those were great shoes, I still remember those. I have two different size feet, so that was one reason Nike helped me out quite a bit when I was at Gonzaga. Those shoes, outside of the Jordan 11s, were probably the most comfortable shoes I wore in college. Those were great. I remember wearing those senior year. They were soft, had great traction, but they looked good, too. I loved low tops, though. Anything with a low cut I would pick in a heartbeat over a high top. Even going back into high school I’d always buy low top Nikes. Whenever I had a good pair of lows, I’d wear those. Then in the pros, there was one pair of lows I’d wear consistently.”
Keep up with Dan’s Barber Shop online and keep it locked to Nice Kicks for more March Madness Memories.
