Some of America’s wealthiest have donated millions of dollars to the U.S. schools with the top-ranked basketball programs.

Nike has been synonymous with cool for decades. But in the company's early days, before it even made clothing, co-founder Phil Knight did not surround himself with the most street-savvy cool kids.

"There is no newness coming out of Nike," said industry analyst and ARCH-USA founder Chris Burns, who recently wrote about "peak Nike." After two years of heavy retro buying, many consumers also ...