8/15 Talkington hopes his latest clothing line
is good fit for women's basketball players
(article taken from the Dallas Morning News)

Ricky Talkington had it all backward: he got his hands on women's basketball fashion before he really became a fan of the game.

That's because Talkington designed the gear himself. The Valley Ranch resident said his new Sista Hoops clothing line has not only filled a void for cool clothes aimed exclusively at women's basketball players, but it has helped Talkington become a women's basketball aficionado himself.

He designed the 2-year-old line of T-shirts, warm-ups, accessories and other gear because he said that while women's basketball has gained popularity in recent years, merchandise has not been available to match.

Sista Hoops is Talkington's third fashion line.

He started a line of T-shirts and sweatshirts known as Masterpeace, which included a business partnership with former Cowboys Michael Irvin and Alfredo Roberts, about 10 years ago. He also created 24-7 Christ, a casual contemporary Christian line.

He said the idea for Sista Hoops came from his desire to start a sports line, combined with market research showing a glut of men's basketball apparel but a dearth in the women's market.

"Why do another men's line? I wanted to make my mark. I saw a void for women's basketball," Talkington said. "If you're a lady athlete and you want to find a basketball shirt, there's nothing out there that they can identify with and call their own."

The Sista Hoops line (www.sistahoops.com) features animated mascots and streetwise catchphrases on many of its shirts, including "little girl, big game" and "hoops diva," that he said convey an attitude and have appealed to a wide range of players.

Talkington doesn't have any employees or business partners yet. Most weekends, he's hawking the gear himself at a local AAU tournament or summer camp, or schmoozing with some of the game's top players to help spread the word.

Sponsoring Events

He said Sista Hoops has sponsored a few AAU tournaments this summer, as well as the Dallas Fury and Houston Stealth of the National Women's Basketball League, a winter women's pro league. Talkington also sponsored a team of former college and professional players that won the Top Gun division at the Hoop-It-Up tournament in Dallas in June.

"It's still a fairly young company, but the response it's getting has been outstanding," Talkington said. "It's not me. It's the product that gets the response."

Among those from whom he's received oral endorsements, Talkington said, are WNBA stars Sheryl Swoopes, Tamika Catchings and Cheryl Ford, all of which have Texas ties. National exposure has been limited to Talkington's Web site and two retail outlets in California.

"A lot of girls are used to wearing men's garments that have women's graphics on there," said Jane Landwair, owner of A Big Fan, a women's basketball store in Inglewood, Calif. "Carrying his full line of stuff has really been great. I would love to have more companies that sold that kind of thing."

Sista Hoops represents a second chance in the sports arena for Talkington, who experienced some success with Masterpeace in the mid-1990s before that line fizzled out abruptly after a two-year run. Two years later, he started 24-7 Christ, which is still available on the Sista Hoops Web site.

"I was living a dream and was around a lot of the players, so it hurt me a little bit," Talkington said of Masterpeace's demise. "But I picked myself up. It was a steppingstone to what I do now."

Talkington said following his team's success at Hoop-It-Up, he would like to start a 3-on-3 streetball series especially for women. Such a tour, he said, would probably start small in Texas, and include a handful of cities with divisions for various ages. He said he hopes to get enough backing for the idea within two years.

Sista Hoops has gotten a quicker response and has more long-term potential than either of his other lines, Talkington said. However, he plans to build slowly, securing demand and name recognition before he approaches major retailers. But he feels the marketplace is ready.

"I design for an athlete first and a lady second," Talkington said. "They want something that has a little attitude to it, but they still want to be feminine."

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By TODD JORGENSON / The Dallas Morning News