If you walked a mile in Colin Smalls’s shoes, you could get from Bender Arena to Baltimore and back before lacing up all the pairs in his closet. 

The 6-foot-2 guard—part of the AU men’s basketball team that went dancing for the first time in 11 years—is a self-professed sneakerhead, with a collection numbering around 85 pairs. Most people “view a shoe as just a shoe,” says the Maryland native. “But there are memories in these shoes. There are stories. There’s sentimental value. It’s not just something you put on your feet.”

Smalls’s uncle gave him his first real pair of kicks for his fifth birthday—red, white, and black Chicago Air Jordan 1s. The budding baller soon realized that wearing shoes named for “arguably the greatest player ever” came with a responsibility to play like Mike.

As he got older, players like Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Allen Iverson—a fellow No. 3—inspired Smalls to look and play his best. He studied highlights of “The Answer,” as Iverson was known in his heyday, as the Philadelphia 76ers guard crossed up defenders in his signature Reebok sneakers, then went outside on his own hoop to emulate Iverson’s style and moves.

“I always [thought]: ‘You look good, feel good, play good,’” says Smalls, who favored Nike signatures of LeBron James and Kevin Durant once he got to high school.

With his collection swelling at times to more than 100 pairs, Smalls began preserving his favorites and trading others. He brings the same competitive spirit to transacting with other sneakerheads as he does to the court. 

“I love the thrill of the negotiation because you don’t want to lowball people—but you do want the best deal you can get,” Smalls says.

One pair he’ll never part with: Nike KD 4 Aunt Pearls, named for Durant’s aunt, who died of lung cancer in 2000. The hot pink sneakers are just as memorable, he says, as the Eagles’ 2024–25 season. “Being out there with the guys and putting together such a strong season as a team has been really special.”