Deion Sanders' Nike Diamond Turf 3 "Colorado Away" leak introduces OG Flip into Summer drops

The Diamond Turf 3 “Varsity Maize” will be released by Nike on April 25th, but this week the “Colorado Away,” or the inverse, was leaked to the public

The date of April 27th will be a big one for the Colorado Buffaloes. It marks the Black and Gold Spring Game, along with mid-rounds for the NFL Draft. Three days prior, Nike will release the original Nike Air Diamond Turf 3 in its original or “OG” Varsity Maize. There was a new leak provided by Nice Kicks, which brings a new colorway and completely on brand for the world's biggest outfitter. 

Deion Sanders drops first look at Nike Diamond Turf 3's coming Summer 2024

The Nike “OG Flip.” Something they do on every shoe, but for signature shoes it's more likely than not. Historically speaking, there are two types of color flips. One of them, at this point, should probably be copywritten for Nike exclusively. That is the ‘bred to cement’ flip. Bred which stands for “black and red,” a common signature shoe colorway invented for and popularized by Michael Jordan’s line. The second most popular colorway (first depending on who you ask and for which shoe) is cement. Typically, a predominantly white shoe with black and speckled or “cement” grey. The cement grey was made popular beginning with the Jordan 3. Then the breds to cement flip was even bigger for the Jordan 4 and even was a big deal for the Jordan 5. Jordan 6 went a different route going with Black and Infrared instead of breds and the flip was to the white and navy.

The breds to cement flip was born in the 1980s and is still utilized today. The other is
a little less specific. Quite simply, take the original colorway, whatever it is, then imagine
the inverse. If a shoe is 80% black, 15% white, 5% maize yellow as the original “Varsity
Maize” Diamond Turf 3 is, just invert it. What you’re left with is exactly the “Colorado
Away” colorway that has recently made its rounds on this internet.

The Varsity Maize has a predominantly white outsole with white flame effects running up
vertically. The toe box is black and feeds into the black upper. The swoosh details are
gold in color. So, what is the “Colorado Away”? A predominantly black outsole with black flame effects running up vertically. The toe box is white and feeds into the white upper. The swoosh details are still gold in color. Coach Prime has mentioned more than once of the importance of gold to a young athlete growing up in Ft. Myers FL. So, that remains. The “Colorado Away” is literally the exact inverse of the “Varsity Maize”. For even further context, Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and a number of select Colorado Buffaloes wore the “Colorado Away” last season, but in cleat form only.

There is a practical positive to an ‘OG flip,’ especially when the OG in question is
predominantly black. Everyone loves an all-white shoe. One could argue the white-on-
white AF1 was the best go to shoe on the market for over 20 years. Even though Nike
has recently confirmed they will start making less and less of those. The problem with an all-white shoe is that it ceases to be that after a few months of wear. What you will inevitably have an all-white shoe that starts to get dingy, bottoms up. The sole will get ugly before the upper does. Then like a Vincent Antonelli suit one lies around in, the bottoms become worse than the tops. Regardless of cleaning regiment, they will almost always look at two very different halves of one thing.

The beauty of most OG flips, as well as the Diamond Turf 3 OG flip specifically, is the introduction of a black sole on a white shoe. You don’t have to be an art or design major to understand this level of color theory. White on white looks clean but mostly white on a black sole just pops in a way white on white doesn’t. With the added benefit that a mostly black shoe flipped will stay crispy and clean much longer than any white on white.

With Nike and Coach Prime in what feels like complete lockstep, we can now begin to
see the colorway progression moving in a very on brand way for Nike. The OG or
“Varsity Maize” drops on April 25, just in time for CU's Spring Game. While we expect the “Colorado Away” to drop some time toward the end of Summer 2024, we are not prepared to confirm a date as of yet. Right now, the prevailing wisdom seems to be somewhere before August 31st. Buffs Beat will confirm that date upon official confirmation of the date in question.

For our immediate purposes, we are confident in DT3's official colorways with the potential for two more and that’s before we even entertain some of the more ‘off the beaten path' colorways Nike keeps trying to make popular. If the last 12 months is any indication, a number of non-signature like colorways could be in the mix depending on liquidation rate. There is also the collaboration avenue. However, thoses and performance signature shoes shouldn’t mix, but they do. The interesting thing is if Coach Prime wants to green light a collaboration, it could be Travis Scott or Drake, but those feel less likely. Prime does have a number of relationships with artists that would feel more on brand for Coach Prime than Nike. 

This is purely speculation, but a Weezy DT3 Collab with Lil Wayne would probably be a huge sneaker moment in time. Another really intriguing collaboration is one that most would not think of. By now, you should’ve noticed that what Coach Prime wears at practice, in games and even in press conferences does not line up with what you the consumer can find at that online retailer that rhymes with “dramatics.” That’s because a large portion of what Coach Prime wears comes from designer DeFron Fobb from the Anthony Lawrence Collection. While Fobb’s name might not move the needle with sneakerheads and flippers, he has an established track record of creating absolute bangers for Prime to wear.

Regardless of where the colorway progression leads or who is brought in to consult or
affect future designs, one thing is certainly true. Those weekly engagement meetings with Nike has clearly revealed that yes, there is significant interest in Coach Prime’s
Diamond Turf 3. Hopefully, that demand and interest will only grow with each new
colorway released or leaked. The Diamond Turf 3 is a massive shoe in the line of great Nike signature shoes. 

Even more than that, it was the catalyst for a moment in time where football shoes and football cleats stopped being exclusively a cross trainer with spikes and became more of a basketball shoe with cross trainer tendencies. The Nike Air Diamond Turf 3 deserves its time in the sun. It was too integral in the development of future shoes to not have its moment. Hopefully Nike will make sure the DT3’s “moment” will be long lasting.