If you walked a mile in Colin Smalls’s shoes, you could get from Bender Arena to Baltimore and back before putting on all the pairs in his collection.

But through that exercise, you might come to understand how those sneakers have played a part in carrying the 6-foot-2 AU men’s basketball guard to this important moment in his athletic career—part of an Eagles squad one victory away from reaching the NCAA Tournament.

“Everything is coming together at the right time,” said Smalls, Kogod/BSBA ’24, MS ’25, who scored 12 points in a 72–62 semifinal win over Colgate on Sunday. “We’ve been putting in so much work since the summer—offensively, defensively, and growing together as a unit. It’s been [on] display on the court. We’re excited to get to make a run at the Patriot League championship.”

Tonight at 7 p.m., Smalls and his teammates will lace up their Under Armour kicks one more time at home to host No. 5 Navy in the Patriot League championship game. With a win, the No. 2-seeded Eagles will earn a spot in March Madness for the first time in 11 years and only the fourth time in program history. Already, the team has eclipsed 20 wins for the first time since 2013–14.

Smalls’s love of the game began long before that—and developed alongside his fascination with the sport’s shoes.

“People who aren’t sneakerheads, they view a shoe as just a shoe—but there’s more to collecting shoes,” said Smalls, who has about 85 pairs. “There are memories, there are stories, there’s sentimental value in these shoes. It’s not just something you put on your feet.”

Smalls’s uncle gave him his first real pair of kicks for his fifth birthday—the red, white, and black Chicago Air Jordan 1s. Even while beating up those shoes on the court, Smalls recognized that wearing shoes named for “arguably the greatest player ever” came with the responsibility to play like Mike.

As he got older, players like Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Allen Iverson, a fellow No. 3, inspired Smalls to look and play his best. He studied “The Answer’s” highlights, as the Philadelphia 76ers guard crossed up defenders in his signature Reebok sneakers. Then, Smalls went outside on his own hoop to emulate both Iverson’s style and moves.

For a while, Adidas dominated Smalls’s collection in honor of guards Derrick Rose and Damian Lillard. In high school, he often wore Nike signatures of LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

“I always used to think, ‘You look good, feel good, play good,’” Smalls said. “I always thought it started with the shoes.”

In sixth grade, Smalls began keeping and preserving his favorite shoes, with his collection sometimes swelling to more than 100 pairs. Smalls approaches trading shoes with other sneakerheads with the same competitiveness he brings to the court.

“I love the thrill of the negotiation because you don’t want to lowball people—but you do want the best deal you can get,” he said.  

Small’s most prized sneakers to date are the pink Nike KD 4 Aunt Pearls. He said he’ll never part with the shoes, named for Durant’s aunt, who died of lung cancer in 2000, even as he constantly buys and sells kicks online. After graduating, Smalls hopes to expand his collection even more—and find a better way to display them all beyond shelving many of them in the basement of his parents’ Upper Marlboro, Maryland, home.

But for now, Smalls is focused on a more pressing goal: finishing out his college career on a winning note after battling injuries throughout his AU career.

“Being able to be a contributor this year has been fulfilling for me in my final year,” Smalls said. “Being out there with the guys and putting together such a strong season as a team has been really special.”