SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey today said he is disappointed with the recent Knight Commission report on college football. Speaking at the Learfield IMG College Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, Sankey said there is more than what is in the report that is behind the decisions. Sankey: “Eighty percent of what’s happened through autonomy legislation among the five conferences to the benefit of student athletes: Medical care, concussion protocols, cost of attendance, the ability to interact with agents and learn what might be next for your career. Yet you have the Knight Commission identifying that as a problematic approach that magnified tensions. I’m disappointed to see the Knight Commission fail to acknowledge the support of student-athletes has improved because of the autonomy conference legislative process.”
He said that beyond offering a different structure than what is in place, “there’s a lot not dealt with” by the Knight Commission. Sankey: “The NCAA is vitally important; it’s imperfect, but an important national governing body. The suggestion that we take football (and) create another governing body doesn’t pay attention to reality. If the suggestion is go start something else, then you go down and say, ‘But we want to keep basketball together.’ The report ignores some of the tension that exists, some of the problems identified, like the range and economic support for college athletics. Those create tensions. The fact that we support football very well benefits a broad-base athletics program.”
Watch: Full interview with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
