EXPLOITATION - ARE STUDENT ATHLETES IN FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL BEING EXPLOITED?

Rebound: Get Yours (The Justin Davis Story)

Jason Whitlock is at it again, latest headline article is "Greedy NCAA Still Exploiting Athletes." Whitlock calls on his media brethren to sever ties with the NCAA:


"If the NCAA has a co-conspirator in maintaining its unethical and immoral status quo of upholding the amateurism myth for its football and basketball players while everyone else profits, it is the mainstream sports media. We are the volunteer watchdogs committed to making sure none of the billions of dollars generated by NCAA Division I football and basketball reaches the filthy, dishonest hands of the young men who earn it."

I'm not going to regurgitate Whitlock's entire article, because my objective in writing this blog is not to debate the finer points of his article, but to highlight a video that was put together by Justin Davis. Justin is an alumnus of Stanford University, where he played basketball from 1999 to 2004. His video entitled "Rebound: Get Yours (The Justin Davis Story)" makes me challenge Whitlock's premise that athletes are exploited by the NCAA.  Could a better financial model be designed to ensure that college athletes and their families benefit from their unique talents? Sure, and new NCAA president Mark Emmert "acknowledges it's time for a serious discussion about whether {it should be done} and how to spread a little more of the largesse to those doing the playing and sweating." Coach Ray Lokar @CoachLok of the Positive Coaching Alliance has a relatively simple solution that should be considered. Ray thinks all college athletes should get work-study money for the 20hrs/week that they participate in practices. This would be funded by the athletic department and issued through the financial-aid department.

How do you value the opportunity to earn a college degree?  In telling his student-athlete story, Justin Davis does a good job of addressing this issue. Are student athletes really being exploited by the NCAA, or are they exploiting themselves by not taking advantage of the educational opportunity that they have earned? Justin's parents told him that a college degree would take him further in life than his exploits in basketball. Watch Justin's video and answer the question for yourself that I posed on exploitation.  Justin highlights some pretty powerful statistics in his video:

Only 3% of male high school basketball players play NCAA basketball.

Only 1.2% of male NCAA basketball players play professional basketball.

Only .03% of male high school basketball players play professional basketball.

Only 56% of African-American Male NCAA Division 1 basketball student-athletes graduated in 2010.

Think it's a great idea to show Justin's video to middle, high school, and college athletes.  Great discussion points and a video that can impact youth positively.