Under Armour could be key as Harrison twins choose Kentucky or Maryland

• Aaron and Andrew Harrison are top basketball recruits
• They likely will attend either Maryland or Kentucky
• They have a close relationship with an executive for Under Armour, Maryland's outfitter

RICHMOND, Texas — Aaron Harrison Sr., a no-nonsense former military man, knows the pitfalls of recruiting process, so he exhibits total control over his sons, Aaron and Andrew, twin brothers who national recruiting analysts say represent the best package deal in recent memory.

Harrison Sr., said that until September even the college coaches courting his sons had to go through dad first. One exception: Chris Hightower, in charge of basketball marketing at Under Armour.

"He is my saving grace that there are some upright, straight, humane people in the basketball business," Harrison Sr. said. "He is the one guy who can call Aaron and Andrew.

"They text him, 'Hey, Chris, appreciate what you sent us, thanks a lot. Hey, Chris, do you have a black hoodie? Does Under Armour make this or that?' He will text them, 'Great game I saw on TV.' "

Under Armour sponsors Maryland's basketball team as well as the AAU team for which Harrison coaches and his sons play. And if the connection between Hightower and Maryland was not clear enough, Hightower uses an image of the Under Armour-designed Maryland football uniforms for his Twitter picture.

Messages left for Hightower were not immediately returned. "Chris Hightower is a member of the team of Under Armour employees who service and support the University of Maryland all-sports apparel contract," the Maryland athletics department said in a statement.

The Harrisons will announce their college choice Thursday on ESPNU (5 p.m., ET).

Before they announce a school — as fans at Kentucky and Maryland toss with anxiety — they are scheduled to receive a visit today at their home from Maryland coaches who hope to secure commitments. Signing day is Nov. 14. Potentially on the line: a Final Four berth in 2014, at the end of their first and perhaps only season playing college basketball.

"Next year, when those two are in college, I can't imagine they'll play a backcourt better than them," said Evan Daniels, national recruiting analyst for Scout.com. "Those two guys are future NBA players with a chance to play in a couple NBA All-Star Games."

But this is more than your garden-variety tangled and cutthroat courtship of high-profile basketball players. This is a fascinating autumn showdown between the best modern day recruiter, Cal, and the rising influence of Under Armour,the new kid on the block.

Sonny Vaccaro, the former shoe company czar who helped create the modern recruiting game more than three decades ago, applauded Under Armour for its penetration into the summer basketball in recent years. And he said the fact that the Harrison twins are even involved with Maryland at this point "shows the power" of brand loyalty.

"There is no logical reason for someone to think Maryland competing with Kentucky for two of the best players in this class," Vaccaro said. "It is illogical. Maryland has not won a game since 1919, since Gary (Williams) won the championship (in 2002). They have had problems. And you are talking about Kentucky — Kentucky. They choose who they want."

For the better part of three decades, Nike has fought the perception it steers its best prospects to Nike-sponsored colleges so they remain under the Swoosh umbrella. Adidas has fought the same suggestions. But the formula has been similar: Sponsor AAU teams with the best teenagers — and pre-teens — and keep them in your product long enough to strengthen brand loyalty.

But now there's a new player in grassroots basketball. Under Armour sponsors at least seven teams from the top six conferences: Auburn, Boston College, Maryland, South Carolina, South Florida, Texas Tech and Utah. But there is no evidence that the Baltimore-based company has tried to steer the Harrisons or other top prospects to Maryland or other schools.

Harrison Sr., who finally gave select coaches his sons' numbers by September, said no college coach has ever offered him money and founder Kevin Plank, a Maryland alumnus, has not called him to talk about the Terps. Harrison Sr. said Tuesday, "This thing for me is about what's best for Aaron and Andrew and not about any shoe company."

And he spoke at length about other factors that draw his sons to Maryland. Harrison Sr. grew up in Baltimore and has family members who still reside in the area. He called coach Mark Turgeon, a hard-working recruiter throughout his career, the "most upright citizen I have met in basketball." And he has a strong relationship with assistant Bino Ranson, another Baltimore native.

From the time Baylor first dangled a scholarship in front of the twins as seventh-graders, the basketball world has provided an eye-opening experience for Harrison Sr.

"Me being in the used-car business, and I will let you know this, the basketball business, is 25 times worse than the used-car business," he said. "It is not even close. It blows my mind what people try to do or that people think it's OK and they'll tell you things and you fall for.

"I'll be frank with you, there are college coaches who are just as involved in this thing as any AAU guy. I am more of a father than an AAU guy. I am not a handler. I don't own any kids. . . . At some point they will become their own men."

He said he has shut people down in a conversation with him if he senses they have their own agenda. On one occasion, he and his wife sat in a college head coach's office and his wife did not like the coach's "spirit." They immediately told the school that their sons would not go there.

"They don't want for anything material," he said of his sons. "They don't have to go to the NBA to take care of me and mamma. We are going to be fine taking care of ourselves. The dynamics are different. They don't want shoes.You're not going to get them with a pair of shoes."