"On city playgrounds and in high-school gymnasiums, the search goes on for the next Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant - potential superstars who can bring millions in sales to the athletic shoe companies they endorse. Now an explosive and controversial expose at last reveals the ongoing exploitation of college, high-school, and even junior-high-school players by profit-minded sneaker companies."--BOOK JACKET. "Written by two of the most knowledgeable journalists in sports, SOLE INFLUENCE takes you into this battle for the hearts, minds, and feet of young athletes - at any price. Along the way, it shows how criminals, including drug dealers and sex offenders, have ended up on a shoe company's payroll. More frightening, this book reveals how corporate money funneled into amateur sports has created black-market professionalism among college and high-school athletes, with promises of fame and fortune that for most players will simply never come true."--BOOK JACKET.