Earlier this week, a piece I authored titled “UConn’s 8 Percent Graduation Rate Means Nothing,” garnered a lot of attention. Most of it was positive, but the most common retort can best be summarized as “this isn’t the way that college basketball should work.”
I agree. In the system that currently exists, graduation rate is a poor measure of success. Everyone – the NCAA, the universities, the conferences, the players – have a singular goal, to get rich. If not for public scrutiny, I doubt graduation rates would be mentioned at all. However, in the system that currently exists, it is wrong to blame players for failing to obtain a degree, when the incentive is placed elsewhere – a lucrative professional basketball career.
I mention this because my largest complaint with the commentary surrounding the graduation rate story is that the 8% statistic is thrown into the conversation as a method of demonizing the players without mention of the universal problems surrounding college basketball that have led us to this point. There is an omni-present voice, amplified by the anonymity of the internet, eager to assign blame but silent on solutions.
So long as the attention around college basketball is centered on battles such as graduation rates, we lose the war for progress and improvement.
With that in mind, we are happy to start the conversation for change.
Recently, the three writers of this site (Meghan, Peter and myself) had a lively back-and-forth conversation, hashing out some ideas for improving the health of the game. Our goals included reemphasizing education, expanding players’ rights, and making the game more financially equitable. Here are our ideas in no particular order:
Alter the NBA Draft rules: With the money available to elite athletes in the NBA, there is an obvious goal for college players to reach the league. However, the current NBA draft rules punish the elite athletes by forcing them to attend a year of college and damage the college game by infusing temporary talent at the expense of growth and stability. We say, let the best high school seniors in the country try their luck in the NBA Draft. But don’t unnecessarily punish kids for making a poor decision. If they fail to be drafted, or do not sign with an NBA team, allow them to attend college.
Major League Baseball’s draft is a good template. They allow high school players to be drafted. However, if they do not sign, they are ineligible to re-enter the draft until after their junior season in college or their 21st birthday. Basketball’s development clock is significantly faster. Our suggestion is a minimum of two years in college with the option to return to school if you do not sign with an NBA team. In this example, Shabazz Napier could have entered the NBA draft last spring, yet still have returned to UConn if unsatisfied with where he was selected.
Establish a Players Trust: This is one of our solutions to the financial inequality of the college game. We suggest the creation of a Players Trust. Each year, the NCAA and all Division I conferences would place a certain percentage of profits into an account that will be used to pay players following their graduation. Any player who leaves college early to enter the NBA Draft, or who fails to graduate, will not be eligible for the funds. This will incentivize players to finish their degrees, while making the sport more equitable. Using the NCAA’s GSR as a standard, we advocate a six-year grace period for players to obtain their degree. The funds would be paid out on a monthly basis for a predetermined amount of time.
Ask more of the NBA: In return for allowing high school seniors into the NBA Draft, and removing one or two years of development costs by requiring college players to stay on campus longer, the NBA should pay into the Players Trust. Not a fortune, but something. We are thinking perhaps a $10M yearly donation.
Increase per-diem of players: The NCAA needs to step up and figure out how to give students more pocket money for basic expenses. It’s common knowledge that basketball scholarships do not cover many everyday costs, often leading players to get into trouble in search of relatively small sums of money. With the amount of cash lining the pockets of NCAA execs and university staff, the players’ lives should be made a little more comfortable.
Give players a cut of merchandise sold with their likeness: It is an injustice that a fan can walk into the UConn Co-Op, purchase a #13 basketball jersey for $30 to celebrate their appreciation for Shabazz Napier, yet Napier does not see a cent of that money. Our suggestion: 50% of all player-centric merchandise sales go into the Players Trust.
Independent representation for the players: The NCAA should fund an independent legal firm that will represent its players – similar to a players’ union in professional sports. The firm would fight on behalf of the players in eligibility, disciplinary and monetary issues. Firms would vie for the right to represent the student-athletes, selected on annual or biannual basis by vote. For too long, we’ve seen the NCAA rule with autonomy, often in the face of decency and common sense. We feel proper representation for the players would alleviate some of these issues and aid in fairness and speed of process.
Conference-maintained travel and hardship funds: It seems most of the disciplinary problems that players encounter typically involves either travel or family hardship. With so much money floating around the sport, it seems unfair that the young men generating millions for others are left to resort to illegal practices to attend to family matters. Conferences should ask member schools to contribute into each account. Players should then apply to use funds, justifying their need, to a committee of the conference athletic directors and coaches. Remnant funds should be deposited into the universal Players Trust following every season to avoid hording in the accounts.
Endorsements: This is an area of debate around the sport. Basic fairness would dictate that, if a player wants to appear in a Subway commercial or sell his own autograph, he should be allowed to. However, there is a danger in college players navigating this world on their own if they are not allowed an agent to manage it all.
***
We hope the suggestions above serve as a starting point to a larger conversation. As always, feel free to post your ideas, concerns and inane ramblings in the comments section. In the name of fairness, equality and improvement, we should all strive for a better future for college basketball.
