Emmert also stressed that collegiate athletes must place value on their education while in schoolGETTY IMAGES
NCAA President Mark Emmert said players who want to jump from high school to the NBA "don’t need to feel like they’re being forced into higher-education," and there "ought to be a professional track," according to Chris Solari of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. Emmert on Friday said, "There needs to be a legitimate professional career track like there is in golf and tennis and baseball and everything else now that if somebody wants to go there, they can go there. ... We want students, young men, to come to college to play the game at the highest level they can, get the best training and development as they can as an athlete, but also be a serious student and gain an educational experience. If they don’t want to do that, they shouldn’t have to." Asked about restrictions NBA teams have in drafting high school players due to the league's CBA, Emmert said, "They are the only ones who can change that rule. If we could change it, we would change it tomorrow" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/17). Syracuse AD John Wildhack said, "If you begin to pay the players, then there is no amateurism whatsoever and I think ultimately, what it could lead to, is you might have 20 schools that could really exist and compete in that type of environment and the other schools won't be able to." He added, "What's the impact on Olympic sports? ... If you get into the pay model, I think the ramifications would be extraordinary" (SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD, 3/17).
HE WHO HOLDS THE POWER: In Boston, Gary Washburn noted NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is "attempting to devise a plan to fix the one-and-done rule and create a system where players who have no interest in attending college can enter the draft, while those who do have an interest will commit to staying longer than one year." Former Nike exec Sonny Vaccaro said that Silver is "probably the lone person who can make this situation better." He added, "Adam is doing basketball a big favor if he cleans this up the right way, access to the pros for the ones who can play, access to the ones who can’t play but think they can be pros, can do other (leagues) in basketball and you are putting the NCAA in its place, access to the kids who want to go and play on a team and win a championship" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/18).
PRIORITY SYSTEM: DIVERSEEDUCATION.com's Gregory Clay reported sports business industry veteran Dr. Kenneth Shropshire believes that in the student-athlete pay debate, making education a priority is “more important than a microscopic focus on financial compensation.” Shropshire, who currently serves as Arizona State’s Adidas Distinguished Professor of Global Sport, said the “most important issue in college sports is educating the student-athlete.” Shropshire: “Why are we stuck on this payment issue? Not to say that it’s not important, but education is more important.” Shropshire made his remarks last week at a “lively panel discussion” as part of ASU’s Global Sport Institute conference. One panel, titled “’For the Win: Innovative Approaches to Athlete Education,’ focused on academic challenges facing college and professional athletes,“ though the discussion “quickly pivoted.” A Univ. of South Carolina graduate “asked panelists why there is so much debate about and focus on Black student-athletes.” RISE Southern Region Dir Dr. Collin Williams responded, “Why do I focus on the Black athlete? Because Black athletes in these schools often are the most ill-equipped to handle the transition to college” (DIVERSEEDUCATION.com, 3/18).
