As if revolutionizing the marketing of shoes wasn’t enough of an accomplishment, Sonny Vaccaro has another distinction — Matt Damon portrayed him in a movie.

“I don’t look like him. He doesn’t talk like me,” Vaccaro said in an interview with GV Wire. “But he knew basketball and we got along well. I am honored that he played that part.”

Vaccaro, a Reedley College alumnus, returns to campus for a special “fireside chat” Friday evening. He will talk with KMJ sports anchor and Reedley College spokesperson George Takata about his recent book, “Legends and Soles.” The event is part of the college’s 100th anniversary guest speaker series.

A story told in several documentaries, books and the 2023 movie “Air,” Vaccaro signed Michael Jordan to the Nike brand in 1984. Betting on an NBA rookie and his line of Air Jordan shoes changed the way the industry was marketed.

Shoes became much more than a piece of athletic gear — they became status symbols. Shoe companies competed fiercely for superstar endorsers with multimillion-dollar contracts.

The 6 p.m. event at the Reedley College McClarty Center for Fine and Performing Arts is free. Vaccaro will hold a VIP meet-and-greet at 5 p.m. for $100. His book will be available for sale at the event.

Recruiting Jordan

In the 1980s, Vaccaro worked at Nike, not yet the powerhouse brand it would become with Jordan.

“I had nothing to do with the pro guys,” Vaccaro said.

He was invited to a Nike meeting to discuss whom to pursue in the 1984 NBA draft, one of the best of all time, Vaccaro said.

Vaccaro did not know the other people in that room, since he did not live or work out of Nike headquarters in Oregon.

“This was my first invite to a corporate meeting,” Vaccaro said.

Vaccaro did not even know Jordan. His North Carolina college team wore Converse.

Others at the meeting wanted to recruit Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley or John Stockton.

“It comes to me, the outsider. I’m not particularly close friends with the people in there. And I said, ‘Give it to the kid,’ ” Vaccaro said.

Vaccaro wanted to spend all the recruitment budget on Jordan. The Nike executives scoffed.

“This kid is the one,” Vaccaro rebutted. “There was something in my mind — the 1982 game (the NCAA final in which Jordan hit the game-winning shot with 18 seconds remaining). He makes that shot, and subconsciously it’s there.

The Way to Reedley College

Vaccaro grew up in the steel town of Trafford, Pennsylvania. The University of Kentucky recruited him to play college football.

He admitted he wasn’t a good student, and his grades prevented him from playing with the Wildcats right away. The coaches sent Vaccaro to Reedley College to get his grades up.

“That’s how I wound up in Reedley, California. By osmosis,” Vaccaro said. “It was the strangest thing in my life and I went there.”

Vaccaro said it was the first time on an airplane. He had no idea about the West Coast.

“Everything was brand new for a 17-year-old kid from Trafford,” Vaccaro said.

That included meeting people of Hispanic and Asian descent. He said it was probably the first time they met an Italian.

“It was a whole new world for me,” he said. “It was a coming out party for Sonny Vaccaro.”

Vaccaro on NIL

Recruiting college teams to wear his company’s shoes was one of Vaccaro’s primary roles.

Vaccaro favors paying college players and supports NIL — name, image and likeness — which allows such players to get paid before turning pro. The rules also loosen restrictions on transferring schools.

Fresno State men’s basketball coach Vance Walberg said it is tough to compete and keep players in the NIL era.

“How did they compete when they weren’t paying these players? What did they do when they held back for 100 years?” Vaccaro said.

Until the NCAA set up NIL rules — forced by a court decision — only coaches had the freedom to move.

“They deprived and they cheated these kids. Today, the kids have the freedom,” Vaccaro said.

Vaccaro said he is proud of what is happening. He predicts that the NCAA may go away in five years.

“I’m in the corner of the athletes, forever,” Vaccaro said.