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There are more than a few athletes who’ve worn eyewear while playing, but there aren’t many people who’ve managed to make it look cool. However, New Mexico guard Deyton Albury did exactly that when he took to the court with a pair of sunglasses before going off in what ended up being his best game of the season.
Glasses can be a bit of a liability when you play a sport, and most athletes who deal with vision problems will wear contacts or turn to corrective surgery in order to avoid potential pitfalls.
However, there’s another route you can take if you’re not particularly concerned with aesthetics: the so-called “rec specs” that have been sported by notable names including Eric Dickerson, Eric Gagne, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
That last man served as the inspiration for one of the nicknames current St. Louis (and former Indiana State) center Robbie Avila earned thanks to his bespectabled looked, which led to him being dubbed “Cream Abdul-Jabbar” in addition to “Larry Nerd” and “Steph Blurry.”
New Mexico’s Deyton Albury doesn’t normally go the same route, but he was forced to after suffering an eye injury against San Diego State, and the sunglasses he turned to may be here to stay after he ended up going off against Colorado State.
New Mexico guard Deyton Albury wore sunglasses while scoring a game-high 22 points
If you tuned into Wednesday night’s Mountain West showdown between Colorado State and New Mexico, there was one player who stood out in more ways than one: Deyton Albury, the Lobos guard who matched his season high with 22 points while going 8-for-9 from the field, hitting all five of the free throws he attempted, and doing so while wearing sunglasses.
The senior, who is nearing the end of his first season in Albuquerque after stints with Utah State and Queens University, suffered a corneal abrasion during Saturday’s win over San Diego State. He found himself dealing with vision issues linked to brightness, but he was cleared to play by the opthamologist that provided him with a pair of tinted rec specs that ended up being a more than adequate solution based on how he played.
It was a pretty sick look, as fans on social media compared him to Blade and A-Train from The Boys after getting a glimpse.
Albury’s contributions weren’t enough to prevent an 82-74 loss at the hands of the Rams, but after the game, he noted he doesn’t have any plans to abandon the shades based on how he personally fared, saying, “I think I’m going to finish out the season in the glasses.”
Albury will close out the regular season against his former school when New Mexico heads to Utah State on Saturday. The Lobos are slated to be one of the top seeds in the Mountain West tournament, and they’ll likely need to win it if they want to punch their ticket to March Madness.