Ben Vander Plas has full Zion Williamson shoe explosion against Creighton (Video)

Ohio basketball’s Ben Vander Plas had his Adidas shoe fall apart during the NCAA Tournament in a moment eerily similar to Zion Williamson’s exploding Nike.

Most people will never have the opportunity to be compared to NBA star Zion Williamson. Ohio’s Ben Vander Plas just became one of the few, for the oddest reason.

On Monday during Ohio’s Round of 32 matchup with Creighton, Vander Plas’ shoe exploded much like Williamson’s did famously during a Duke game in 2019.

Exploding shoes are a strange trend in college basketball

Unlike Williamson, Vander Plas wasn’t injured by the footwear mishap. Williamson missed a month of action for Duke after his incident. Vander Plas avoided that fate.

Unfortunately for him and Ohio, the shoe was just part of his bad night. He had just nine points on 3-of-12 shooting, including one make from beyond the arc on six tries. With or without his shoes, the season wasn’t going to continue anyways. Creighton handled the No. 13 seed, 72-58, to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1974. There they will have the tall task of knocking off No. 1 seed Gonzaga.

Of course, Nike will be sitting back and pointing at the Ohio forward’s Adidas shoe as proof that their shoes aren’t the only ones who fail.

Nike was still able to secure Williamson to a lucrative shoe deal with their Jordan brand. No word yet on whether Vander Plas can expect a deal from Adidas.

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