In a social media post on Tuesday, Marist Athletics unveiled a new set of black uniforms for the men’s basketball team. The new uniforms mark the first time in over two decades that any Red Fox team has utilized a primarily black jersey; the football team last wore black jerseys in 2004.
The new uniform features black as the primary color with white piping along the collar, arms and down the sides of the jersey with the bright red Marist wordmark and numbers. The new uniform debuted Thursday in a 81-52 victory against Rider.
The new uniforms are part of a recent trend across Marist Athletics in which there has been increased experimentation in how the University’s teams look. This is the second straight season the men’s basketball team has unveiled a brand new look; last year, they introduced their 1980s Rik Smits’ era throwback jerseys and merchandise, something that had never been done before at the University. Several other teams have also utilized new colors for either special event games or as a more consistent piece of their uniforms.
In 2024, the football team redesigned its helmets to initiate the re-incorporation of black. The new helmet featured two black stripes on top and a black facemask. In 2025, they took it a step further; the Red Foxes added black accents to the collar and numbers on the home football jersey.
“We had a new coaching staff come in and they’ve been heavy on trying to get black back in the rotation,” associate athletic director Harrision Baker said in an October interview. “They worked with me and asked if it was okay. But for the most part, the football staff kind of took over that design because they knew what they wanted. When the design came back to me, it was in line and all copacetic, working with the Marist brand.”
The women’s basketball team also unveiled new uniforms last season; they sported pink uniforms in February 2025 for their annual “Pink Out” Game, where pink replaced the red on their home white threads. The team wore the specialty uniform three times and will bring them back out this Saturday when they host Saint Peter’s in their 16th Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Pink Game. Marist volleyball has also partnered with Miles of Hope for over a decade.
Throwback jerseys have also trickled into the club sports scene. In each of the past two seasons, Marist club hockey suited up in a throwback-inspired uniform including the old “Fox-M” and black pants for the annual Alumni Game.
Additionally, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball all received new uniforms for the fall 2025 season while the softball team went from a solid home white jersey to a pinstriped look in the spring. Besides football, all of those new uniforms stuck to the traditional red and white worn by Marist teams.
Anytime any Marist team explores adding a new uniform, there is a distinct process that they follow. While men’s basketball’s new uniform that utilizes a primary color other than red or white is a change of pace, the idea of revamping uniforms is not. Every two years, each team gets a new home or road jersey and the following year, the other design is updated. The design process typically begins at least three months prior to the start of the team’s season. Marist Athletics uses BSN as its supplier.
“BSN is like our middleman to connect with Nike. We work with them to order, design and then fulfill,” Baker said. “It is usually a month’s lead time, and then they’re here by the start of the season.”
Since 2010, Marist has maintained an exclusive agreement with Nike to outfit the university’s 23 teams. Baker uses a Nike website with jersey templates and collaborates with each team on the design and specifics of each uniform.
During the design process, color is the most prioritized design aspect. Traditionally, Marist Athletics has tried not to stray from the University’s primary colors of red and white to be cohesive with the school’s brand. Along with the color, other details like the font and number color are important.
“We really want to emphasize that we are the Red Foxes,” said Baker. “A lot of teams can get away with doing off-the-wall colors because their color isn’t in their name. For us, we need to stick with red.”
While there has been a desire to stick with the traditional red and white, Baker did mention interest in expanding to black in a strategic manner, as they ended up doing with men’s basketball and, to a lesser extent, football.
“We do recognize that in our past, we had some black; it got away from us to where like every team that had black and then everyone was just wearing black and it’s like, well, we’re the Red Foxes,” Baker said. “It doesn’t really match us. But we’re trying to get to a point where we can introduce black again, but in a strategic way to where it’s not overtaking like our true dominant color.”
With the football team adding increased black elements to their uniforms and the men’s basketball team going full blackout, the gridiron could be next to see a black alternate jersey.
“We want to plan it out in the correct way,” Baker said. “We’re trying to line it up with an anniversary of some sort…We’re trying to get to a point where we can introduce black again, in a strategic way, so that it’s not overtaking our true dominant colors.”
The newer aspect of the uniform process revolves around name, image and likeness. With NIL now prevalent in collegiate sports, Marist sells merchandise and jerseys for Marist athletes, something that has not been possible in the past. Marist works alongside brands like Athlete’s Thread and Influxer for their player NIL store to sell jerseys and other merchandise with players’ names and numbers on the back.
Athlete’s Thread takes care of the custom jerseys and shipping, and sends updates to Baker on which athletes are selling the most. This is something new to Marist Athletics and Baker, but it is here to stay.
“Every jersey that we’ll create in the future will have an NIL store behind it where the athletes can have their number on the back, and the funds will go directly to the athlete when someone purchases,” said Baker.
The re-incorporation of black into Marist’s uniforms provides a glimpse into the past alongside a forward-thinking vision. While red will always define the Red Foxes, experimentation gives the University’s teams what Baker is looking for: options.
“We’ve just seen the power of like, different amounts of jerseys being desirable for players and recruits that are coming in,” Baker said. “Look at Oregon, they have a new jersey every week…we’re not going to get to that point, but at least let’s have some options.”
Edited by Cara Lacey and Max Rosen
Graphic by Quinn DiFiore
Photos from Marist Athletics
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