After a swift outcry from students and fans, the N.C. State Athletics Department has opted to scrap its new white jerseys for the men’s basketball team and return to a design similar to the one it used last year.

The jerseys, provided free of cost due to endorsement deals with Adidas sporting goods company, will have “N.C. State” printed across the chest.

“We were looking for a positive outcome, but since this didn’t turn out that way, we’re more than willing to go back to the old way and move forward,” Athletic Director Lee Fowler said.

The Athletic Department posted pictures of the new jerseys on Twitter Wednesday afternoon and angry comments immediately flooded Internet chat rooms and message boards.

“It seems to have created some controversy, and there’s nothing [Lowe], I, or the department would rather avoid than making the students upset,” Fowler said.

The jerseys featured the word “State” above the player’s number, with the letters “NC” clustered above them. Fowler and coach Sidney Lowe said they were discouraged from only including the word “State,” as schools such as Michigan State University have on their jerseys.

The team had only one set of white jerseys made, so Lowe said it’s a quick fix.

“We tried it that way, but we certainly didn’t anticipate it getting to this point,” Lowe said.

Lowe sat down with several members of his staff and decided on the jersey’s concept. The head coach said the uniforms were designed with the ‘great teams’ of past championship seasons in mind.

“It was more really just trying to put ‘State’ out there a little more,” Lowe said. “A lot of people talked about the history and the tradition of the school. Our staff, we sat down and talked about it, and some of the players liked it because they saw some of the jerseys the old championship teams wore.”

Lowe said several players liked the finished product, but they aren’t overly concerned with what they’re wearing come Nov. 12, when the Pack opens its season against Georgia State at the RBC Center.

“There were a couple of players that said, ‘coach, this is pretty nice,'” Lowe said. “It’s important that your players like it, but they liked the other ones too. [It is] not a big deal.”

Lowe said once fans balked, the decision whether to move forward with the jerseys became clear.

“We certainly want our students and fans to come out and be supportive of our team, and we definitely don’t want that to be the reason that they don’t,” Lowe said.