Skechers Drafts Kiki Iriafen

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 2, 2025--

Skechers expands its basketball roster by signing University of Southern California forward Kiki Iriafen ahead of the 2025 WNBA draft. Expected to be a top draft pick in this year’s draft as she pursues a master’s degree at the USC Marshall School of Business, the elite athlete will play in Skechers Basketball footwear after entering the pros and appear in the performance brand’s global marketing campaigns.

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“This partnership is about more than just basketball. Skechers understands who I am on and off the court and what I need to be at my best,” said Kiki Iriafen, who will play in the SKX NEXUS™. “I love that the brand is based in my hometown of L.A., and has the global reach to help me inspire and impact more female athletes worldwide to pursue their dreams. Skechers does comfort better than any other brand I’ve experienced, which gives me confidence to have them as my teammate as I enter into this next chapter of my life.”

“After two years on the court in the NBA and WNBA, it’s a big moment for Skechers Basketball to sign Kiki, our first college player, and embark on the journey with her as she begins her professional career,” said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. “Kiki is a rising star with a bright future in the league. We look forward to supporting her from the draft through her first season and beyond. As the second woman on our basketball roster, she also furthers our mission to engage with female athletes around the world so that more players everywhere experience the signature Comfort That Performs of Skechers.”

Okikiola “Kiki” Iriafen gained national attention at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles where she set school records for points and rebounds and was named a McDonald’s All-American in 2021 and rated a five-star recruit by ESPN. Her collegiate career started at Stanford where she was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team by the media in 2022 and later earned Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year and All-Pac-12 Team in 2024. That year she also received the Katrina McClain Award, presented to the best power forward in NCAA women’s basketball. After earning an engineering degree from Stanford in 2024, Iriafen transferred to USC as a graduate student for her final year of college eligibility. She was recently named to the first team All-Big Ten ahead of the 2025 NCAA women’s basketball tournament where USC entered as a #1 seed. Iriafen is averaging 18.6 PPG and 8.5 RPG for USC this season and will soon begin her pro career with the WNBA draft on April 14 in New York.

Perfect for players who desire a fast and responsive court-feel, the SKX NEXUS™ worn by Iriafen is a low-top court shoe designed for speed, stability and support. Offering exceptional comfort with resilient Skechers Move Foam™, every pair features a breathable mesh upper, lockdown ankle support in the heel, and Goodyear® rubber with a torsion-plate to amplify traction for quick cuts on the court. The style joins an innovative Skechers Basketball collection that includes the lightweight SKX Resagrip™ with advanced cushioning, the SKX Float™ for exceptional stability and control, and the SKX Reign™ that promotes elevation and intense traction.

Iriafen joins a Skechers roster that includes WNBA star Rickea Jackson, along with NBA stars Joel Embiid, Julius Randle, Norman Powell, Jabari Walker, Josh Green, and Terance Mann. Additional elite athletes around the world competing in Skechers Performance footwear includes golfers Matt Fitzpatrick and Brooke Henderson; soccer players Harry Kane, Baris Alper Yilmaz and Mohammed Kudus; pickleball pros Tyson McGuffin and Catherine Parenteau; and baseball players Clayton Kershaw and Aaron Nola, among others.

Skechers Basketball footwear is available at skechersbasketball.com and select Skechers retail stores. Basketball fans can get behind-the-scenes access to Skechers Basketball product launches and more by following @skechersbasketball on Instagram and TikTok.

About Skechers U.S.A., Inc.

Skechers (NYSE:SKX), The Comfort Technology Company® based in Southern California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. The Company’s collections are available in 180 countries and territories through department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through skechers.com and approximately 5,300 Skechers retail stores. A Fortune 500® company, Skechers manages its international business through a network of wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint venture partners, and distributors. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

About The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire companies. It employs about 68,000 people and manufactures its products in 53 facilities in 20 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include the disruption of business and operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic; delays or disruptions in our supply chain; international economic, political and market conditions including the effects of inflation, tariffs and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations around the world, the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States, and the impact of wars, acts of war and other conflicts around the world; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q in 2025. Taking these and other risk factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, the dynamic nature of these circumstances means that what is stated in this press release could change at any time, and as a result, actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and we cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.

Kiki Iriafen with the SKX NEXUS™ basketball shoe from Skechers.

USC forward Kiki Iriafen is ready to hit the court in Skechers basketball shoes.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. traveled to West Texas on Sunday after a second elementary school-aged child who was not vaccinated died from a measles-related illness.

Ahead of a “Make America Healthy Again” tour across southwestern U.S., Kennedy said in a social media post that he was in Gaines County to comfort the families who have buried two young children.

Kennedy said he was working with Texas health officials to “control the measles outbreak.” Seminole is the epicenter of the outbreak, which started in late January and continues to swell — with nearly 500 cases in Texas alone, plus cases from the outbreak believed to have spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico.

The second young child died Thursday from "what the child's doctor described as measles pulmonary failure,” and did not have underlying health conditions, the Texas State Department of State Health Services said Sunday in a news release. Aaron Davis, a spokesperson for UMC Health System in Lubbock, said that the child was “receiving treatment for complications of measles while hospitalized.”

This is the third known measles-related death tied to this outbreak. One was another elementary school-aged child in Texas and the other was an adult in New Mexico; neither were vaccinated.

It's Kennedy's first visit to the area as health secretary, where he said he met with families of both the 6- and 8-year-old children who died. He said he “developed bonds” with the Mennonite community in West Texas in which the virus is mostly spreading.

Kennedy, an anti-vaccine advocate before ascending to the role of nation’s top health secretary earlier this year, has resisted urging widespread vaccinations as the measles outbreak has worsened under his watch. On Sunday, however, he said in a lengthy statement posted on X that it was “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles."

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine has been used safely for more than 60 years and is 97% effective against measles after two doses.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teams have been “redeployed,” Kennedy added Sunday, although the nation’s public health agency never relayed it had pulled back. Neither the CDC nor the state health department included the death in their measles reports issued Friday, but the CDC acknowledged it when asked Sunday.

The number of cases in Texas shot up by 81 between March 28 and April 4, and 16 more people were hospitalized. Nationwide, the U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024.

Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, a liver doctor whose vote helped cinch Kennedy’s confirmation, called Sunday for stronger messaging from health officials in a post on X.

“Everyone should be vaccinated! There is no treatment for measles. No benefit to getting measles,” he wrote. “Top health officials should say so unequivocally b/4 another child dies.”

Cassidy has requested Kennedy to appear before his health committee Thursday, although Kennedy has not publicly confirmed whether he will attend.

A CDC spokesperson noted the efficacy of the measles vaccine Sunday but stopped short of calling on people to get it. Departing from long-standing public health messaging around vaccination, the spokesperson called the decision a “personal one” and encouraged people to talk with their doctor. People “should be informed about the potential risks and benefits associated with vaccines," the spokesperson added.

Misinformation about how to prevent and treat measles is hindering a robust public health response, including claims about vitamin A supplements that have been pushed by Kennedy and holistic medicine supporters despite doctors’ warnings that it should be given under a physician's orders and that too much can be dangerous.

Doctors at Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock, where the first measles death occurred, say they've treated fewer than 10 children for liver issues from vitamin A toxicity, which they found when running routine lab tests on children who are not fully vaccinated and have measles. Dr. Lara Johnson, chief medical officer, said the patients reported using vitamin A to treat and prevent the virus.

Dr. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration’s former vaccine chief, said responsibility for the death rests with Kennedy and his staff. Marks was forced out of the FDA after disagreements with Kennedy over vaccine safety.

“This is the epitome of an absolute needless death,” Marks told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday. “These kids should get vaccinated — that’s how you prevent people from dying of measles.”

Marks also said he recently warned U.S. senators that more deaths would occur if the administration didn’t mount a more aggressive response to the outbreak.

Experts and local health officials expect the outbreak to go on for several more months if not a year. In West Texas, the vast majority of cases are in unvaccinated people and children younger than 17.

With several states facing outbreaks of the vaccine-preventable disease — and declining childhood vaccination rates nationwide — some worry that measles may cost the U.S. its status as having eliminated the disease.

Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for up to two hours. Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the CDC. The first shot is recommended for children ages 12 to 15 months, and the second for ages 4 to 6 years.

Seitz reported from Washington. AP reporter Matthew Perrone in Washington contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE - A sign is seen outside a clinic with the South Plains Public Health District, Feb. 23, 2025, in Brownfield, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, file)

FILE - A measles sign is seen at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Feb. 25, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, file)