The company was the product of a graduate school project partnership of jay Coen Gilbert, Seth Berger, and Tom Austin while they were still graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. In the middle of 1996, Stephon Marbury came in to serve as AND1’s first ever spokesman.
In 1999, the company shot their first series of commercials and print ads that employed NBA players Rex Chapman, Darrell Armstrong, Ab Osondu, Toby Bailey, Raef LaFrentz, and Miles Simon. When traditional marketing campaign proved unsuccessful, they used the “Skip tape,” streetballer Rafer Alston’s raw videotape showing his basketball moves. The tape was edited and reprinted 50,000 copies and within the next eight weeks, Alston was made into a celebrity and AND1 became a product partner with FootAction.