High Schooler Designs 'Melo's New Shoe

Every true sneakerhead has spent at least a little time daydreaming about what it might be like to create their own pair of sneakers. If you're like me, you even drew up a few pairs in your notebook when you were supposed to be doing homework.

Austin Jamaicans is different though. He actually created a limited edition model of Carmelo Anthony's Jordan M6!

No, seriously. See that sneaker Austin's holding in the pic. He created it! From scratch!!!...

How'd he do it? Well, Nike and Jordan Brand have a program called Future Soles. It's an initiative used to discover kids with designing talents, and to help steer them towards a career making footwear. Future Soles recently held a contest where one lucky high school kid would be tasked with creating a limited edition version of Melo's M6... and when the smoke cleared, Austin was chosen the winner! Only, Austin didn't know he'd won until he was flown to Denver and introduced to Mr. Carmelo Anthony himself! How'd the meeting go? I'll let Melo relay that part (Carmelo recapped his meeting with Austin in a blog for Global Grind):

"The winner of the contest, Austin Jamaicans, from Pennsylvania was flown to Denver, and Jordan Brand and I surprised him at Studio 15, my Barber Shop.  Austin had no clue that I was going to be there when he walked in the door, so this was a huge surprise for him.  I have to admit, I was a bit exhausted from my recent road trip, but to see the surprise and smile on this kids face...this is why I do the things I do. 

So here's the deal…

Austin not only got the chance to hang out with me at Studio 15, but I was so blown away by his design, that I asked him if it would be cool if I wore his shoe in an upcoming Nuggets game.  Austin was cool with it and said yes!  So keep your eyes out for Austin’s M6 Design on the court.  And get this, not only will I wear these shoes, but the entire Syracuse Universitybasketball team will be wearing the shoe during the BIG EAST tournament the first week of March – crazy, right!  Austin is only 17 years old.  Just goes to show you what you can achieve if you put your mind to it! Best part, if you like Austin’s M6 design, you can have them too!  They will be available at limited retail locations in June for playoff season, so be sure to check them out."
-Carmelo Anthony (via Global Grind)

Pretty cool, hungh? Check below for more pics from Austin's big day.