Pat Forde’s Interest on Shabazz Backpack

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What’s with a backpack? When it’s a Gucci?

In an article for Yahoo Sports, Forde eyes Shabazz’s style.

After putting the Bruins on his back with a game-high 23 points, Muhammad put something else on his back before leaving the arena – a black Gucci backpack.

It was a nice look.

Nice enough that I checked Gucci.com Thursday night and found 18 backpacks, with the cheapest going for $990 retail. But, hey, I’m sure these things can be found on sale, right?

I’m not saying there’s something fishy about Muhammad’s designer backpack, even though most of his teammates were sporting more modest, UCLA-issue models. (Fellow freshman Kyle Anderson also had a designer model.) Asia Muhammad, Shabazz’s sister, tweeted an explanation for the backpack, saying she and her mother had purchased it for Shabazz as a gift. I’m just saying a college kid wearing Gucci catches the eye – especially when the college kid is Muhammad.

The high school All-American was under NCAA investigation for impermissible benefits received in high school – and a lengthy suspension appeared to be a possibility until word broke about an NCAA investigator’s boyfriend being overheard blabbing about the case on a plane. With the investigation apparently considered compromised, Muhammad was released from NCAA jail after missing only three games and being required to repay $1,600 in benefits received.

UCLA clears Muhammad of this backpack nonsense.

“The UCLA Athletics Compliance Office has confirmed that men’s basketball players Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson (who also had a designer model backpack) received items in question as gifts from their respective families, and the matter is closed,” states the UCLA’s athletic department.

Shabazz’z sister isn’t too happy about Forde’s article.

“I have the original receipt if you need to verify that,” Asia Muhammad wrote to Forde. “[Shabazz] doesn’t need anything from anyone except his family. … You’re barking up the wrong tree on this one.”