read and writing a paper

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2441219

EDUCATING ATHLETES RE-ENVISIONING THE STUDENT-ATHLETE MODEL

William W. Berry III*

This article contends that if the NCAA and universities are serious about

saving the current student-athlete model, then they should double-down on the concept of “student” in the student-athlete model. In particular, this paper suggests that adopting a more realistic approach to educating athletes will benefit both the universities and student-athletes, relieving pressure on the current model and improving educational outcomes.

Specifically, this article argues for a revised student-athlete model. First, the new model would require mandatory six-year scholarships for student- athletes, and a reduction in the required academic hours “in-season” from 9 to 3. The model also mandates that students use their eligibility in the first four years at the university. After student-athletes use their eligibility up over the four years, half of their education will remain. The students can attempt to become a professional athlete, but if that fails, they will have the opportunity to engage academically for two years in a discipline that will prepare them for the career they seek, rather than follow the path of least resistance to graduation. Indeed, this idea that graduation rates alone indicate the receipt of a robust and valuable education, rather than a short-circuited and compromised one, cheats many student-athletes of the education that they deserve.

Part I of the article briefly describes the broken model of intercollegiate athletics. In Part II, the article advances its central proposal for saving the concept of student-athlete: six-year scholarships with a reduction to 3 hours in-season for student-athletes, coupled with a requirement of eligibility use in the first four years. Part III concludes the paper by demonstrating how the proposal can resuscitate the concept of student-athlete and why the proposal can improve outcomes for universities and student-athletes alike.

* Assistant Professor of Law and Beccaria Scholar in Criminal Law, University of

Mississippi. The author thanks Woods Drinkwater for his valuable research assistance with the article.

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2441219

2 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3 I. The Broken Model of College Athletics ......................................................................... 9

A. The Model in Principle ............................................................................................ 9 B. The Model in Practice .............................................................................................. 10

1. Athletes Generate Revenue ......................................................................... 11 2. Athlete Compensation Limited to Education ............................................ 15 3. Education Compromised by Athletic Demands ........................................ 21

II. The Proposal ...................................................................................................................... 24 A. Mandate six-year scholarships for revenue-generating sports. ............................. 25 B. Reduce Academic Load to 3 hours during in-season semesters. .......................... 28 C. Reduce College Basketball Season to One Semester. ........................................... 30 D. Limit Eligibility to the First Four Years .................................................................. 31

III. Justifications ..................................................................................................................... 32 A. Amateurism Fails without Real Educational Opportunity .................................. 32 B. Students Deserve a Chance at an Education ......................................................... 33 C. Universities Have an Obligation to Educate ......................................................... 34

Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 35

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 3

INTRODUCTION

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

– Charles Dickens1 By any objective measure, intercollegiate athletics is thriving.2 After

unprecedented growth over the past decade, the obsession with college sports, particularly football and basketball, seems to deepen daily.3 No longer limited to the actual games, the interest in these sports continues through the offseason, with recruiting information and offseason practices garnering significant attention.4

The popularity of college football and basketball is at an all-time high, setting television ratings records5 and spawning high sales in merchandise.6 Television

1 CHARLES DICKENS, A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1859). 2

Indeed, many have noted the positive effects of such success on colleges and universities. See, e.g., Doug G. Chung, The Dynamic Advertising Effect of College Football , working paper, available at http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/13-067_86a0b712-f29e-423f- b614-0165b770dd65.pdf (study measuring the “Flutie Effect”); Devin G. Pope and Jaren C. Pope, The Impact of College Sports Success on the Quantity and Quality of Student Applications, 75 Southern Econ. J. 750 (2009)(noting the positive impact of football and basketball); Devin G. Pope and Jaren C. Pope, Understanding College Application Decisions: Why Sports Success Matters, 15 J. SPORTS ECON. 107 (2014).

3 Eric Chemi, The Amazing Growth in College Football Revenues, BUSINESSWEEK.COM (Sep. 26, 2013), http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-26/the-amazing-growth-in- college-football-revenues.

4 In recent years, websites devoted to following the highest ranked high school players have become increasingly popular. Dedicated fan bases tune in year round. See, e.g., http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com, http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com, http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/index, http://espn.go.com/college- sports/basketball/recruiting/index.

5 Michael Humes, Hundreds of Millions of Fans Tune to Record-Setting College Football Coverage across ESPN Networks, ESPN MEDIAZONE (Dec. 10, 2013), http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2013/12/hundreds-of-millions-of-fans-tune-to- record-setting-coverage-across-espn-networks/. Sara Bibel, 2013 NCAA Final Four is Highest- Rated and Most-View in Eight Years, ZAP2IT (Apr. 7, 2013), http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/04/07/2013-ncaa-final-four-is-highest-rated-and- most-viewed-in-eight-years/176862/.

6 Darren Rovell, Texas leads in merchandise royalties, ESPN.COM (Aug. 12, 2013), http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9560094/texas-longhorns-again-top-

4 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

and the internet are certainly responsible for much of this growth.7 Not only do television contracts continue to break records at an almost exponential rate of growth, but conferences and schools also have their own television networks.8 This continued influx of capital manifests itself in expanded stadiums,9 world- class training facilities,10 and escalating coaching salaries.11

With the advent of a college football playoff,12 the launch of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) television network in 2014,13 and the expansion of many stadiums, the potential for continued growth is obvious.14

merchandise-sales-list.

7 Daniel Roberts, ESPN’s secret web weapon: ESPN3, CNNMONEY.COM (Jan. 22, 2014), http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2014/01/22/espns-secret-web-weapon-espn3/; Adam Kramer, Where Did All The College Football Fans Go?, BLEACHER REPORT (Oct. 17, 2013), http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1814887-where-did-all-the-college-football-fans-go.

8 Kristi Dosh, A comparison: Conference television deals, ESPN.COM (Mar. 19, 2013), http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/dollars/post/_/id/3163/a-comparison-conference-television- deals. For instance, the University of Texas has its own channel. http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2013/10/3/4798078/the-eye-of-texas-inside-the- longhorn-networks-uncharted-television.

9 See, e.g., Brian Bennett, Arms Race Proves Recession-Proof, ESPN.COM (June 14, 2012); http://www.bcinterruption.com/2012/10/2/3440482/acc-football-arms-race-duke-wallace- wade-stadium-expansion.

10 Oregon has one obvious example of this. See Peter Berkes, Incredible photos and video of Oregon's new football facility, SBNATION.COM (July 31, 2013), available at http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/7/31/4574556/oregon-football-building-new; http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/photos/1307/university-of-oregon-athletic- facility-behind-scenes/.

11 See, e.g., Patrick Rishe, College Football Coaching Salaries Grow Astronomically Due to Escalating Media Rights Deals, FORBES.COM (Nov. 20, 2012), available at http://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe/2012/11/20/college-football-coaching-salaries-grow- astronomically-due-to-escalating-media-rights-deals/; Allie Grasgreen, Coaches Make More Than You, INSIDEHIGHERED.COM (Nov. 7, 2013), available at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/07/football-coach-salaries-10-percent-over- last-year-and-top-5-million.

12 See, e.g., Heather Dinich, Playoff Plan to Run Through 2025, ESPN.COM (June 27, 2012), available at http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8099187/ncaa-presidents-approve- four-team-college-football-playoff-beginning-2014.

13 Richard Sandomir, SEC Will Start TV Network in 2014, NYTIMES.COM (May 2, 2013), http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/sports/ncaafootball/sec-will-have-own-tv-network- starting-in-2014.html?_r=0. See http://www.getsecnetwork.com

14 See, e.g., Dennis Dodd, College football in 2012 more about growth potential than settling in, CBSSPORTS.COM (Jan. 1, 2012), available at

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 5

Indeed, by many estimations, intercollegiate athletics has far to go to reach its saturation point, despite its overwhelming current popularity.15

And yet, the status quo is troubling.16 Despite the economic growth, only a handful of universities have athletic departments that yield an annual profit.17 Indeed, the average athletic department runs an annual deficit of over one million dollars.18 In addition, most schools rely heavily on student fees to subsidize the athletic department.19

Since 2011, the number of major National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) violations has been unprecedented, with major scandals at athletic powerhouses like Miami,20 North Carolina,21 Ohio State,22 Tennessee,23

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/16669574/college-football-in-2012-more- about-growth-potential-than-settling-in.

15 Id. 16 See, e.g., Charles Clotfelter, 5 Problems to Tackle in Big College Sports, AJC.COM (July 2,

2012), http://www.ajc.com/news/news/opinion/5-problems-to-tackle-in-big-college- sports/nQWxW/; Jason Whitlock, Making the Wrong Argument, ESPN.COM (Sept. 13, 2013), http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/9669762/investigative-stories-distract-real-issues-sports; Nick Veronica, College sports and money: Decades-old issues remain unresolved, POST- GAZETTE.COM (June 16, 2013), http://www.post- gazette.com/sports/college/2013/06/16/College-sports-and-money-Decades-old-issues-remain- unresolved/stories/201306160224#ixzz2ukNq2FNx.

17 Steve Berkowitz, Jodi Upton, and Erik Brady, Most NCAA Division I athletic departments take subsidies, USA TODAY.COM (Jul. 1, 2013), http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2013/05/07/ncaa-finances- subsidies/2142443/.

18 Id.; http://www.knightcommission.org/collegesports101/chapter-2. 19 This is particularly damaging in a time when higher education more generally is coming

under attack for its high tuition levels. Id. See Jon Solomon, Alabama universities spend money at a faster rate on athletics than academics, AL.COM (Dec. 4, 2013), http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/12/alabama_universities_spend_mon.html.

20 Jorge Milian, NCAA investigators in Miami Hurricanes’ booster scandal probe under investigation, PALM BEACH POST.COM (Jan. 23, 2013), http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sports/college-football/ncaa-investigators-in-um- booster-scandal-probe-und/nT5RH/.

21 Dan Kane, A former UNC dean recalls athletes unable to do college-level work, CHARLOTTE OBSERVER.COM (Jan. 31, 2014), http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/30/4652834/a-former-unc-dean-recalls- athletes.html#.UwLE_PldUsp.

22 Nick Carbone, Ohio State Hit with One-Year Bowl Ban Overe Bribery Scandal, TIME.COM (Dec. 20, 2011), http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/20/ohio-state-hit-with-one-

6 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

Oregon,24 and Oklahoma State.25 The child sex abuse scandal at Penn State26 further sounded the alarm that the culture surrounding intercollegiate athletics has reached a dangerous level at many universities.

Perhaps most disconcerting, the academic experience of student-athletes is, in many situations, a compromised one.27 By any estimation, the in-season demands on college football and basketball players are that of a full-time job.28 Student-athletes often spend over forty hours or more a week in season, including practices, meetings, and team activities, travel, and the competitions themselves.29

Couple that reality with the reduced academic credentials of many of these athletes when they arrive on campus, and the likelihood of such students receiving a robust college education becomes vastly diminished.30 To expect students who are often underprepared for higher education to balance the

year-bowl-ban-over-bribery-scandal/.

23 Andy Glockner, Tennessee sex scandal could grow quickly if academics are involved, COLLEGE BASKETBALL ON SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.COM (May 14, 2013), http://college- basketball.si.com/2013/05/14/tennessee-sex-scandal-could-grow-quickly/.

24 Reports: ‘Major’ violations occurred, ESPN.COM (Apr. 16, 2013), http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9177148/ncaa-oregon-ducks-agree-major- violations-committed-football-program.

25 Scott Coleman, Oklahoma State football accused of money ‘bonus program’ for players, SBNATION.COM (Sep. 7, 2013), http://www.sbnation.com/college- football/2013/9/7/4705460/joe-defrost-oklahoma-state-west-virginia-sports-illustrated-report.

26 Bill Chappell, Penn State Abuse Scandal: A Guide and Timeline, NPR.ORG (Jun. 21, 2012), http://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/142111804/penn-state-abuse-scandal-a-guide-and- timeline.

27 See, e.g., Peter Adler and Patricia A. Adler, From Idealism to Pragmatic Detachment: The Academic Performance of College Athletes, 58 SOC. OF EDUC. 241 (1985).

28 Lynn O’Shaughnessy, Do College Athletes Have Time to Be Students?, CBSNEWS.COM (Feb. 18, 2011), http://www.cbsnews.com/news/do-college-athletes-have-time-to-be-students/.

29 David Moltz, How Athletes Spend Their Time, INSIDE HIGHER ED (Feb. 14, 2011), http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/02/14/ncaa_survey_details_athletes_missed_class _time. See, Time Demands, 2011 NCAA GOALS and SCORE studies, page 16, http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/Goals10_score96_final_convention2011_public_versio n_01_13_11.pdf.

30 Doug Lederman, The Admissions Gap for Big-Time Athletes, INSIDE HIGHER ED (Dec. 29, 2008), http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/12/29/admit, Allison Go, Athletes Show Huge Gaps in SAT Scores, USNEWS.COM (Dec. 30, 2008), http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/paper-trail/2008/12/30/athletes-show-huge-gaps-in- sat-scores.

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 7

demands of a full-time athletic commitment with a full schedule of classes seems shortsighted.

The responses to this combination of athletic and academic pressure are well known. Clustering of majors, excessive reliance on academic tutors, and restrictions in available class offerings are all commonplace, even at the top public universities in the country.31 Even worse, cutting corners through prohibited methods, including academic fraud, continue to persist.32

The pending O’Bannon lawsuit has again raised questions about the propriety of the NCAA’s amateurism model, arguing that student-athletes should receive compensation for their athletic contributions, including for the use of their likenesses by the NCAA.33 Similarly, the football team at Northwestern University has recently filed for status as a labor union with the National Labor Relations Board.34

The NCAA continues, as it has done for a number years, to argue that the principle of amateurism is crucial to preserving the student-athlete model that has persisted over the past half century. While this has often been a successful litigation strategy,35 the commercialization of intercollegiate athletics over the past decade begs the question whether the NCAA can continue to adhere to this model.36

31 Paul M. Barrett, In Fake Classes Scandal, UNC Fails Its Athletes—and Whistle-Blower,

BUSINESSWEEK.COM (Feb. 27, 2014), http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-27/in- fake-classes-scandal-unc-fails-its-athletes-whistle-blower; Ella Powers, Athletic Fraud in Collegiate Athletics, INSIDE HIGHER ED (Oct. 2, 2007), http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/02/fraud

32 Id. 33 Mark Koba, The lawsuit that could reshape college sports, CNBC.COM (Dec. 21, 2013),

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101285999. 34 Chip Patterson, Northwestern players start union movement in college athletics, CBS

SPORTS.COM (Jan. 28, 2014), http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college- football/24422752/northwestern-players-start-union-movement-in-college-athletics. Petition available at http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/acrobat/2014-01/359300200- 28125606.pdf.

35 See, e.g., Hysaw v. Washburn University of Topeka, 690 F.Supp. 940 (D. Kan. 1987), Waldrep v. Texas Employers Insurance Assn., 21 S.W.3d 692 (Tex. App. 2000), NCAA v. Tarkanian, 488 U.S. 179 (1988), NCAA v. Smith, 525 U.S. 459 (1999), Brennan v. Board of Trustees, 691 So. 2d 324 (La. App. 1 Cir. 1997), Bloom v. CAA, 93 P.3d 621 (Colo. Ct. App. 2004); But see NCAA v. Board of Regents of Oklahoma, 468 U.S. 85 (1984).

36 See, e.g., Joe Nocera, Let’s Start Paying College Athletes, NYTIMES.COM (December 30,

8 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

This article contends that if the NCAA and universities are serious about this model, then they should double-down on the concept of “student” in the student-athlete model. In particular, this paper suggests that adopting a more realistic approach to educating athletes will benefit both the universities and student-athletes, relieving pressure on the current model and improving educational outcomes.

Specifically, this article argues for a revised student-athlete model. First, the new model would require mandatory six-year scholarships for student-athletes, and a reduction in the required academic hours “in-season” from 9 to 3. The model also mandates that students use their eligibility in the first four years at the university. After student-athletes use their eligibility up over the four years, half of their education will remain.37 The students can attempt to become a professional athlete, but if that fails, they will have the opportunity to engage academically for two years in a discipline that will prepare them for the career they seek, rather than follow the path of least resistance to graduation. Indeed, this idea that graduation rates alone indicate the receipt of a robust and valuable education, rather than a short-circuited and compromised one, cheats many student-athletes of the education that they deserve.38

Part I of the article briefly describes the broken model of intercollegiate athletics. In Part II, the article advances its central proposal for saving the concept of student-athlete: six-year scholarships with a reduction to 3 hours in- season for student-athletes, coupled with a requirement of eligibility use in the first four years. Part III concludes the paper by demonstrating how the proposal can resuscitate the concept of student-athlete and why the proposal can improve outcomes for universities and student-athletes alike.

2011); Taylor Branch, The Shame of College Sports, THEATLANTIC.COM, (Sept. 7, 2011), http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/308643/.

37 As discussed below, this proposal places no restriction on students completing their education and graduating in four years.

38 What athletes “deserve” is certainly a debatable proposition. Here it simply refers to the terms of the contracts that the student-athletes currently enter into with the University when becoming student-athletes.

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 9

I. THE BROKEN MODEL OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS

A. The Model in Principle For a generation or more, the NCAA has based its existence on

promulgating and defending the ideal of amateurism in intercollegiate athletics.39 Section 2.9 of the NCAA Constitution provides:

Student-athletes shall be amateurs in an intercollegiate sport, and their participation should be motivated primarily by education and by the physical, mental and social benefits to be derived. Student participation in intercollegiate athletics is an avocation, and student-athletes should be protected from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises.40

Not only does this principle clearly establish that intercollegiate athletes should not receive compensation for their participation, but also frames athletic participation as an adjunct to higher education.41 Indeed, this principle of amateurism specifies that the primary motivation for participation in college sports is “education.”42 In other words, the NCAA model of student-athlete characterizes athletic participation as an “avocation,” a hobby or extra-curricular activity that helps to diversify and enhance a student’s education.43 Using the NCAA’s own model, then, the most accurate definition of student-athlete44 is simply “student,” as the athletics is simply part of the education.45 Recent advertisements by the NCAA, which emphasize that student-athletes typically “go pro” in many other vocations besides athletics, highlight this theoretical

39 See, e.g., Anna McCullough, Ancient Greek “Amateurism,” the NCAA, and the Courts,

INT’L J. OF THE HISTORY OF SPORT (2014); Patrick Dobel, The Beleaguered Ideal: Defending NCAA Amateurism, (2012), manuscript available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2028182.

40 NCAA CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS, at 4 (2013-14). 41 Id. 42 Id. 43 Id. 44 Interestingly, former NCAA executive director Walter Byers coined this phrase. See

Tom Ferrey, “Student-Athlete” Term in Question, ESPN.COM (September 19, 2012) http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/8396753/ncaa-policy-chief-proposes-dropping-student- athlete-term.

45 See NCAA CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS, supra note xx.

10 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

frame.46 By tying the athletic experience to the academic one, the NCAA justifies its

model of amateurism. If students are merely participants in a university, then the NCAA and its member institutions then have a duty to protect these athletes from “exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises.”47 This paternalistic approach, and any legitimacy it might possess, rests on the concept that the goal of the student-athletes in participation in athletics is purely educational.48

Before going further, it is important to emphasize the nature of the NCAA, the organization promulgating this model of the amateur student-athlete.49 The presidents of the colleges and universities participating in the NCAA govern it.50 Thus, a better understanding of the NCAA is not as some external body imposing its will on colleges and universities, but rather an encapsulation of the majority will of the colleges and universities with respect to intercollegiate athletics.51

B. The Model in Practice

Given the NCAA’s model, then, it is interesting to examine how the

principle of amateurism intersects with the commercial realities of intercollegiate football and basketball, both of which are, by any measure, big businesses.52 In

46 NCAA Launches Latest Public Service Announcements, Introduces New Student-

Focused Website, NCAA.ORG (Mar. 13, 2007), http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/PressArchive/2007/Announcements/NCAA%2BLaunches%2BLatest %2BPublic%2BService%2BAnnouncements%2BIntroduces%2BNew%2BStudent- Focused%2BWebsite.html.

47 See supra note xx. 48 Indeed, this principle has saved the NCAA in a number of court cases. See supra note xx. 49 See supra note xx (Walter Byers quote). 50 See § 4, NCAA Division I Manual,

http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D114.pdf. 51 The complex governance structure of the NCAA, including its largely democratic voting

system results often in smaller universities (of which there are many) imposing their will upon the larger universities. Indeed, much of the discussion within the NCAA recently has not been over the question of amateurism, but instead over the degree to which the big 5 conferences (SEC, ACC, BIG 10, PAC 12, and BIG 12) can possess a greater level of autonomy within the NCAA structure.

52 At least 20 collegiate basketball teams earn an estimated $8 million in profit every season

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 11

short, the current practice has three key aspects: (1) athletes generate revenue through competition, (2) the NCAA limits athlete compensation for that competition to the expenses of education (tuition, room, and board),53 and (3) the increased revenue related to the athletic competition places undue pressure upon, and in many cases compromises the student’s “non-athletic” education.54

Upon closer examination, these three elements raise serious questions about whether the NCAA’s model is anything more than a sham, a cover to preserve a status quo that has long departed from the initial vision of amateurism. Indeed, the big business model that currently prevails allows virtually everyone— administrators, coaches, institutions, alumni, fans, sponsors, networks—to profit at the expense of the majority student-athletes. This is especially true for those who are unable to be among the few who can “go pro” in football or basketball.55

1. Athletes Generate Revenue

At the heart of the current manifestation of intercollegiate athletics is the

revenue-generating ability of college football and basketball.56 This revenue

while a number of college football teams regularly bring in profits in excess of $30 million. Chris Smith, Louisville Cardinals Lead The List of College Basketball’s Most Valuable Teams, FORBES.COM (Mar. 18, 2013), http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2013/03/18/louisville- cardinals-lead-the-list-of-college-basketballs-most-valuable-teams/, Chris Smith, College Football’s Most Valuable Teams 2013: Texas Longhorns Can’t Be Stopped, FORBES.COM (Dec. 18, 2013), http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2013/12/18/college-footballs-most- valuable-teams-2013-texas-longhorns-cant-be-stopped/.

53 See § 15.1 Maximum Limit on Financial Aid—Individual, 2013-2014 NCAA Division I Manual, 194 available at http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D114.pdf. Although, the NCAA and a number of universities have indicated that these benefits fall slightly short of the total cost of education. As a result, in recent years the NCAA has considered adoption of a small stipend on top of tuition, room, and board, but a majority of the membership are against it because of its economic impact on athletic departments.

54 This presumes, of course, that the NCAA’s characterization of athletics as education is an accurate one. Many do not share this view. See, e.g., Sarah Ganim, Some College Athletes Play Like Adults, Read Like Fifth Graders, CNN.COM (January 8, 2014), http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/us/ncaa-athletes-reading-scores/; Gary Gutting, The Myth of the Student-Athlete, NYTIMES.COM (March 15, 2012), http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/the-myth-of-the-student-athlete/.

55 Probability of Competing Beyond High School, NCAA.ORG (Sep. 2013), http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/probability-competing-beyond-high-school.

56 Kristi Dosh, Which Football and Basketball Programs Produce the Largest Profits?,

12 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

comes from several primary sources: television networks, advertisements, ticket and merchandise sales, and private donations.57 For instance, in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), television networks ESPN and CBS pay a whopping $ 205 million to televise their football games annually.58 In addition, ESPN and the SEC are launching a new network, the SEC Network, in 2014, to provide coverage of SEC sports 24 hours a day.59

While, in theory, this influx of money could benefit the universities themselves, most schools60 put most of this profit back into the sports that generate the income, as well as support the other non-revenue sports of the university.61 With the constant pressure to win from rabid fan bases, athletic departments spare no expense when attempting to recruit the best high school athletes.62 This includes use of private jets, helicopters, and other travel expenses, as coaches spend significant time and energy courting star players.63 Coaches realize that recruiting the right athletes is the difference between another multi-million dollar contract and a pink slip.64

BUSINESS OF COLLEGE SPORTS.COM (Jun. 20, 2011), http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/06/20/which-football-and-basketball-programs- produce-the-largest-profits/;

57 See supra note xx. 58 Mike Ozanian, Deal Between ESPN and SEC Likely The Richest Ever, FORBES.COM

(May 31, 2013), http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2013/05/31/deal-between-espn- and-sec-conference-likely-the-richest-ever/.

59 Chris Suarez, ESPN and SEC to air new 24-hour network, ONCAMPUSSPORTS.COM (May, 2013), http://oncampussports.com/2013/05/espn-and-sec-to-air-new-24-hour-network/.

60 Some universities do share this largesse with their athletic programs. See supra note xx. 61 Indeed, without the revenue from college football and college basketball, many athletic

departments would struggle to field teams in non-revenue sports given the costs of coach salaries, travel, scholarships, and upkeep of facilities.

62 Alica Jessop, The Economics of College Football: What the Top-25 Teams Spend on Recruiting, FORBES.COM (Aug. 31, 2013), http://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciajessop/2013/08/31/the-economics-of-college-football-what- the-top-25-spend-on-recruiting/.

63 See, e.g., Mitch Sherman, Balancing the Recruiting Budget, ESPN.COM (June 12, 2012), http://espn.go.com/college-sports/recruiting/football/story/_/id/8041461/the-cost-recruiting.

64 Interestingly, firing a coach sometimes adds a significant cost, and can postpone any corresponding benefit. See, e.g., Jere Longman, Firing a Coach, at a Price, With Little Evidence the Move Pays Off, NYTIMES.COM (November 28, 2012), http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/sports/ncaafootball/time-runs-out-but-not-the-money- in-college-football-coaches-firings.html.

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 13

And the pressure to recruit has led to a facilities “arms-race” among universities.65 There is the consistent upgrading of facilities with each school attempting to keep up with their peer schools.66 The excesses of the physical plant of the athletics department, particularly when compared to dilapidated classrooms on the other side of many campuses, paint an interesting picture of where university priorities ultimately lie.67 As a result, most athletic departments run a deficit, and have to depend on outside revenue sources, including student fees and alumni giving.68

Even worse, the pressure to recruit has opened the door to a number of questionable, and in some cases, illegal activities on the part of athletic departments and universities.69 Each athlete is able, under NCAA rules, to

65 David Harten, Dayton basketball getting a piece of $6 million athletic facilities upgrade,

COLLEGEBASKETBALLTALK.COM (Jul. 29, 2013), http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/29/dayton-basketball-getting-a-piece-of-6- million-athletic-facilities-upgrade/, Lindsay Schnell, Oregon State athletics: Beavers plan facility upgrades, but with limited finances, OREGONLIVE.COM (Dec. 6, 2013), http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2013/12/oregon_state_athletics_beavers.html, Joe Scalzo, YSU using upgrades to lure recruits, VINDY.COM (Jan. 26, 2014), http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/jan/26/facilitating/.

66 Brian Bennett, Arms race proves recession-proof, ESPN.COM (Jun. 14, 2012), http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8047787/college-football-facilities-arms-race- proves-recession-proof.

67 Sean Gregory, Athletics Over Academics: The Growing College Sports Spending Gap, TIME.COM (Jan. 17, 2013), http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/01/17/athletics-over- academics-the-growing-college-sports-spending-gap/; Brian Lee, Are college sports worth the cost?, PBS.ORG (Mar. 7, 2011), http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/pitchroom/are-college- sports-worth-the-cost/7827/.

68 See, e.g., http://espn.go.com/ncaa/revenue; and http://espn.go.com/ncaa/revenue/_/type/expenses; http://www.deltacostproject.org/sites/default/files/products/DeltaCostAIR_AthleticAcademic _Spending_IssueBrief.pdf; http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsmoney/2011/05/05/does- football-fund-other-sports-at-college-level/

69 Doug Lesmerises, Tim Tebow's 8-second call, pocket dials, Sports Illustrated's tobacco reveal: Ohio State football's 2013 secondary NCAA violations, CLEVELAND.COM (Feb. 24, 2014), http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2014/02/tim_tebows_8- second_call_pocke.html, Ryan Aber, OU releases list of self-reported NCAA violations, NEWSOK.COM (Feb. 18, 2014), http://newsok.com/ou-releases-list-of-self-reported-ncaa- violations/article/3934985, John Marshall, NCAA puts Oregon football on probation for recruiting violations, WASHINGTONTIMES.COM (Jun. 26, 2013), http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/26/ncaa-puts-oregon-football-probation-

14 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

participate in up to five “official visits” of campuses during the recruiting process, which creates opportunities for malfeasance.70

In many cases, prospective student-athletes receive benefits, financial and otherwise, as inducements to attend the university, despite NCAA rules prohibiting such practices. Other actors also have tried to cash in as well. High school coaches have demanded compensation to convince their students to attend a particular university.71 Similarly, parents of student-athletes have demanded financial compensation, including automobiles and houses, in exchange for their children attending a particular university.72

Also, it is common practice for schools to employ cheerleaders and other attractive female students as hostesses for the athletes on these visits.73 Sadly, some of these interactions have resulted in sex scandals at several different universities.74

As with recruiting, the fan experience also becomes an important consideration for university athletic departments. Stadium expansion and addition of skyboxes and other amenities to improve the fan experience at the

recruiting-vio/?page=all, Chip Patterson, Washington investigating alleged recruiting violations under Sarkisian, CBSSPORTS.COM (Dec. 19, 2013), http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/24380855/washington- investigating-alleged-recruiting-violations-under-sarkisian.

70 § 13.6.2.2 Number of Official Visits—Prospective Student-Athlete Limitation, 2013- 2014 NCAA Division I Manual, 101 available at http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D114.pdf.

71 FBI Investigates Allegation of Money Paid to Coach of High School Recruit, LATIMES.COM (Jan. 27, 2001), http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jan/27/sports/sp-17676.

72 See Cecil Newton scandal: Auburn releases Cam Newton docs, ESPN.COM (Nov. 5, 2011), http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7190987/auburn-tigers-records-reveal- details-cam-newton-scandal.

73 Pete Thamel and Thayer Evans, N.C.A.A Puts Tennessee’s Recruiting Under Scrutiny, NYTIMES.COM (Dec. 8, 2009), http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/sports/ncaafootball/09tennessee.html?_r=2&.

74 George Dohrmann, Thayer Evans, and Melissa Segura, Special Report on Oklahoma State Football: Part 4 – The Sex, SPORTSILLUSTRATED.COM (Sep. 13, 2013), http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130913/oklahoma-state-part-4-the- sex/.,/., Scandal deepens with company’s confirmation, ESPN.COM (Feb. 10, 2004), http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1731589, Mindy Sink, COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Rape Inquiry Involves Players From Colorado, NYTIMES.COM (Dec. 15, 2001) http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/15/sports/college-football-rape-inquiry-involves-players- from-colorado.html.

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 15

game, and in doing so, extract more money for tickets, concessions, and merchandise. Indeed, college revenue sports remain at the center of a feeding frenzy that by many estimates has not reached its saturation point.

2. Athlete Compensation Limited to Education

Despite the influx of capital and revenue resulting directly from the

performance of student-athletes in football and basketball games, the NCAA prohibits athletes from receiving any compensation for their efforts.75 Under its principle of amateurism, the NCAA insists that student-athletes remain amateurs in every sense of the word.76

For instance, the NCAA does not allow student-athletes to participate as a professional in one sport while maintaining amateur status in another.77 One particularly telling example is that of former Olympic skier Jeremy Bloom.78 A world champion before attending college, Bloom wanted to receive endorsement money related to his skiing while playing college football at the University of Colorado. The NCAA denied him this opportunity, requiring him to eschew such opportunities to maintain his eligibility as an amateur.79

The NCAA also denies student-athletes the ability to profit from sales of merchandise, even when such merchandise directly relates to their performance on the field or court. Student-athletes may not derive income from sales of jerseys with their name and number on them, photographs of their games, video reproductions of the games, and other similar items, despite the financial windfall that they provide to the university. Student-athletes such as former Michigan basketball player Chris Webber have questioned this situation, finding a fundamental problem with the university and/or NCAA profiting off their name at a time when they could not afford to buy the jersey with their name on it.80

75 2013 – 2014 NCAA Division I Manual § 12.1.2,

http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D114.pdf. 76 Id. and at § 12.02.4 77 NCAA Division I Manual § 12.02.4 78 Bloom v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass’n, 93 P.3d 621 (Colo. Ct. App. 2004). 79 Bloom challenged this in court and lost, based largely on the Court’s affirmation of the

NCAA’s principle of amateurism. Id. 80 ESPN 30 for 30, The Fab Five (2013).

16 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

Even more limiting, athletes cannot receive any compensation for things that they possess.81 Athletes may not sell their old uniforms, championship rings, or other memorabilia, or they lose their status as amateurs.82 A number of Ohio State football players, including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, violated this rule and received suspensions for selling their rings and jerseys in exchange for tattoos.83

Similarly, student-athletes may not sell their autographs, make photographs, or use their likeness to advertise for anything, even non-profit organizations.84 The NCAA investigated Texas A&M star quarterback Johnny Manziel at the beginning of the 2013 football season based on allegations that he had sold memorabilia with his autographs.85

These limitations exist despite the own marketing and advertising efforts of the NCAA and the universities. Perhaps most egregious is the licensing of student-athlete likenesses to video game companies, which generated revenue for the NCAA and its member schools.86 The O’Bannon case, pending at the time of this writing, challenges this use of player likenesses.87 The video game company, EA Sports, has settled its part of the lawsuit with the plaintiffs, and has discontinued its college sports video games.88 The NCAA continues to

81 2013 – 2014 NCAA Division I Manual § 12.5.2.1,

http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D114.pdf. 82 2013 – 2014 NCAA Division I Manual § 12.5.2.1,

http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D114.pdf. 83 Starting Blocks, Terrelle Pryor under investigation by the NCAA and Ohio State on

allegations he received cars, other benefits: Report, CLEVELAND.COM (May 30, 2011), http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2011/05/post_177.html.

84 2013 – 2014 NCAA Division I Manual § 12.5.2.1, http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D114.pdf.

85 Peter Berkes, Johnny Manziel briefly suspended, ending NCAA autographs investigation, SB NATION.COM (Aug. 28, 2013), http://www.sbnation.com/college- football/2013/8/28/4668634/johnny-manziel-suspended-texas-a-m.

86 Chris Smith, NCAA Football Video Game Is Worth Over $75,000 Per Year For Top Teams, FORBES.COM (Aug. 22, 2013), http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2013/08/22/ncaa-football-video-game-is-worth-over- 75000-per-year-for-top-teams/.

87 Robert Wheel, Ed O’Bannon vs. the NCAA: The lawsuit explained, SB NATION.COM (Jan. 31, 2013), http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/1/31/3934886/ncaa-lawsuit- ed-obannon.

88 Steve Eder, E.A. Sports Settles Lawsuit With College Athletes, NYTIMES.COM (Sep. 26, 2013), http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/27/sports/ncaafootball/ea-sports-wont-make-

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 17

defend its role in the case, which now includes all uses of current student likenesses.89

One word encapsulates the justification for the limitations imposed by the NCAA on the ability of student-athletes to earn money: amateurism.90 The NCAA has long reasoned that allowing student-athletes to receive any form of compensation will compromise its mission.91 Further, allowing any remuneration for the athletes will destroy the integrity of intercollegiate athletics.92

As each year passes, this justification becomes increasingly thin, for several reasons. First, as mentioned above, the amount of capital and the sheer magnitude of the business that is intercollegiate athletics becomes such that the divide between unpaid athlete and compensated university becomes unsupportable. It is difficult to tell student-athletes that it is improper for anyone to help them pay for a bus ticket home when assistant coaches have million dollar salaries (much less the head coaches with multi-million dollar salaries).93

Second, this gap gives rise to cheating under the NCAA rules. It has been a significant problem for decades, but is reaching unforeseen depths.94 By any estimation, 2011 was the “year of the scandal” in college football, and the problems do not seem to be dissipating any time soon.95 Oregon, Ohio State,

college-video-game-in-2014.html?_r=0.

89 Stewart Mandel, Judge allows Ed O’Bannon v. NCAA to proceed to trial, SPORTSILLUSTRATED.COM (Feb. 20, 2014), http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college- football/news/20140220/ed-obannon-lawsuit-proceeds-to-trial/.

90 See supra note xx. 91 NCAA prez: Stipend not ‘pay-for-play’, ESPN.COM (Nov. 3, 2011),

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/7187028/ncaa-stipend-not-lean-pay-play- president-mark-emmert-says

92 Id. 93 College Coach Salaries, USA TODAY.COM,

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/salaries/. 94 See NCAA Legislative Services Database Search available at

https://web1.ncaa.org/LSDBi/exec/miSearch, Doug Lederman, Half of big-time NCAA programs had major violations, USATODAY.COM (Feb. 7, 2011), http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/2011-02-07-ncaa-infractions_N.htm, Doug Lederman, Bad Apples or More?, INSIDE HIGHER ED (Feb. 7, 2011), http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/02/07/ncaa_punishes_almost_half_of_members_o f_football_bowl_subdivision_for_major_rules_violations.

95 Mike Huguenin, NCAA Football in 2011: Year of the scandal, YAHOO.COM (December

18 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

Southern California, LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, North Carolina and Miami all had major scandals that raised serious questions about the influence of money in intercollegiate athletics and the lack of commitment to education.96 Of these, the North Carolina scandal, which involved widespread academic fraud for over a decade, was the most egregious with respect to academics.97 And the Miami scandal exceeded any scheme of paying players since the Southern Methodist scandal in the 1980’s in which it received the death penalty.98

The volume of such scandals at high profile programs blackened the image of intercollegiate athletics and raised new questions about the ability of the NCAA to regulate the universities in any meaningful way.99 To make matters worse, unethical tactics used by NCAA investigators in the investigation of Miami, brought the NCAA itself its own set of negative publicity.100

Third, the exultation of intercollegiate athletics has reached such a pinnacle that criminal behavior goes unreported in an effort to protect the good name of the program.101 The child sex abuse allegations at Penn State are the paradigm example of allowing the allure of a successful program to cloud the judgment of officials—both athletic and academic. Jerry Sandusky, an assistant football coach and later a consultant to the program, engaged in numerous incidents of sexual abuse of children within the football facilities. Despite evidence that many members of the athletic department were aware of such allegations, including head coach Joe Paterno, many of these incidents went unreported for over a decade.102

Fourth, the tuition, room, and board amounts are increasingly unable to cover the basic needs of the student-athlete.103 The NCAA has recognized this, and in 2012, proposed the award of a $2000 stipend to student-athletes. Characterized as a supplement to cover the cost of attendance, the NCAA

27, 2011) http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaa-football-2011-scandal-091200840--ncaaf.html.

96 See supra notes xx-xx. 97 Id. 98 Id. 99 Id. 100 Id. 101 Id. 102 Id. 103 Nina Mandell, Why Full Scholarships and Stipends Don’t Always Add Up For Student-

Athletes, THE POST GAME (Jul. 30, 2013), http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/daily- take/201307/living-high-life-not-so-much-college-athletes-say.

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 19

membership ultimately voted against this reform.104 The negative vote most likely stemmed from the smaller colleges and universities that make up a majority of the NCAA being unable to afford such a stipend for all of their student-athletes. Under Title IX, the universities would be obligated to pay such a stipend equally to male and female athletes.

Finally, the reality of big-time college sports looks nothing like the amateur, intramural type of competition that comports with the original vision of student- athlete.105 Rather than small competitions attended by friends and family members, many contests involve over 100,000 spectators, plus millions more watching on television. The practical reality is certainly a far cry from its humble beginnings.

As this pressure cooker continues to tighten, particularly with the impending O’Bannon lawsuit, the primary response from the NCAA is that student- athletes do receive sufficient compensation for their efforts: a university education, including room and board.106 At prestigious private universities like Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, and Vanderbilt, this argument gains more traction, as annual tuition at those institutions can exceed $50,000.107 Even at public universities, the cost of higher education is not insignificant, and reflects a meaningful financial benefit.108

And pressure from the NCAA increasingly results in student-athletes receiving degrees from these institutions, not just attending them.109 As part of

104 Jeremy Fowler, NCAA president Mark Emmert hopes to unveil new stipend plan in April, CBSSPORTS.COM (Jan. 1. 2013) http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jeremy-fowler/21483211/ncaa- president-mark-emmert-hopes-to-unveil-new-stipend-plan-in-april. 105 Former NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers coined this phrase. 106 107 Tuition and Fees, 2013-14, STANFORD.EDU,

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/financialaid/costs.phphttps://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/registrar/ students/tuition-fees_13-14, Cost & Financial Aid, DUKE.EDU, http://admissions.duke.edu/application/aid, Tuition, Fees, And Expenses, NORTHWESTERN.EDU, http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/financial-aid/tuition-fees-and- expenses.html, Costs for 2013-2014, VANDERBILT.EDU, http://www.vanderbilt.edu/financialaid/costs.php.

108 What’s the Price Tag for a College Education?, COLLEGEDATA.COM, https://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_payarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=10064.

109 A recent study believes that the NCAA’s method of measurement is skewed because it includes part time and non-traditional students instead of comparing only traditional, full-time

20 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

its effort to emphasize academic education, the NCAA has heighted its academic standards in the past decade, both with respect to eligibility requirements for scholarships and eligibility requirements during college.

Currently, the NCAA requires completion of 16 core high school courses,110 as well as a minimum combined GPA and SAT/ACT on the NCAA’s sliding scale.111 On this scale, there is a minimum GPA of 2.00, and the minimum ACT/SAT inversely dependent upon GPA; the higher GPA, the lower the required standardized test score.112 A GPA of 2.00, for instance requires an SAT of 1010 or an ACT of 86, while a 3.00 GPA only requires an SAT of 620 or an ACT of 52.113 At the other end of the scale, a GPA of 3.550 requires an SAT of 400 and an ACT of 37.

In addition to the eligibility requirements for incoming students, the NCAA attempts to promote academics through its Academic Progress Rate (“APR”) system.114 The APR measures academic eligibility and graduation rates of students.115 Beginning with the 2012-13 championships, teams without either an APR average of 900 over 4 years or an average of 930 over the most recent

students. See http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/09/27/report-football-players- graduate-rates-lower-non-athletes and http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/why-athletes- graduate-at-higher-rate-than-other-students/. Others contest this allegation of bias. http://www.tidesport.org/Grad%20Rates/2012_Bowl_Study.pdf

http://www.tidesport.org/Grad%20Rates/2013%20Men's%20Basketball%20Tournament %20Teams%20Study.pdf

110 These include 4 years of English, 3 years of mathematics (Algebra I or higher), 2 years of natural / physical science, 1 year of additional English, mathematics, or science, 2 years of social science, 4 years of additional courses (from the above areas, foreign language or comparative religion / philosophy. http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Quick_Reference_Sheet.pdf. Beginning in 2016, prospective student-athletes must have completed 10 of these courses by the end of their junior year. Id.

111 Id. 112 Id. 113 Id. In 2016, the numbers at the bottom of the scale will increase slightly. Id. 114 http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/academic-progress-rate-apr. 115 While eligibility requirements make the individual student-athlete accountable, the

Academic Progress Rate creates a level of institutional responsibility. The Academic Progress Rate is a Division I metric developed to track the academic achievement of teams each academic term. Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one retention point for staying in school and one eligibility point for being academically eligible. A team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by one thousand to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate score. Id.

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 21

two years are eligible to compete.116 Teams that fall short are not.117 In addition, the NCAA imposes three levels of penalties for low APR scores.118 The first level reduces the number of hours of practice per 5 days from 20 to 16 hours, with the 4 hours used for academic activities.119 The second level adds competition reductions.120 The third level provides for more serious penalties, including coaching suspensions, financial aid reductions, and restricted NCAA membership.121

Graduation rates reflect this pressure, with student-athletes graduating at a higher rate than non-student-athletes at a number of institutions.122 Further, these results speak to the outstanding efforts of many athletic departments to educate their students in the classroom, particularly in light of the lack of college preparedness of many student-athletes. The resources invested in keeping athletes eligible, including vast tutoring resources, complicated tracking systems, robust enforcement of class attendance, all are important contributions to the educational development of student-athletes. Indeed, for programs to remain successful, they must, at all costs, keep their student-athletes academically eligible and ultimately graduate them.

The deeper issue, though, is whether these graduation rates reflect the provision of a robust education. As financial pressures begin to compromise every other aspect of the student-athlete model, it seems unreasonable to expect that academics can remain insulated. The next section explores this question.

3. The Potential of Athletic Demands to Compromise Academic Education

A close examination of the provision of academics to student-athletes

reflects, at best, a system that compromises many of the NCAA’s core ideas of student-athlete. As discussed below, several problems persist, including clustering of majors, focus on eligibility to the detriment of academic

116 These numbers increase to 930 and 940, respectively, for 2014-15, and become a four

year average of 930 in 2015-16 and beyond. Id. 117 Id. 118 Id. 119 Id. 120 Id. 121 Id. 122 Id.

22 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

achievement, heavy reliance on tutors, unrealistic expectations placed on unqualified students, athletic participation requirements exceed those of an average full-time job, and most disturbing, pure academic fraud.

a. Clustering of Majors

One recent phenomenon among student-athletes is the clustering of

majors—where student-athletes in the same sport all choose the same major.123 One study indicated that over half of the BCS schools had student-athletes clustered in majors.124 In the abstract, this reality might be innocuous, as student-athletes perhaps have similar academic interests. The truth, however, might be more troubling—that student-athletes seek out the path of least resistance with respect to their academic schedule. In other words, student- athletes and their coaches learn, over time, which classes are “athlete-friendly.” To the degree to which this is really happening, the academic education of student-athletes serves the primary purposes of eligibility and graduation, and arguably undermines the academic education itself.

Given that the subjects of the clustering are different at different institutions, it seems to indicate that, at the very least, athletes face some cultural restrictions in the type of classes that they can choose to take. That is not to say, that some student-athletes may not be receiving robust educations. The clustering merely raises important questions about the degree to which the external pressures and demands of athletics limit the ability of one to pursue certain educational paths.

b. Pressures of Eligibility Requirements

Similarly, the pressure to remain eligible, particularly in light of the APR

consequences, also favors the path of least resistance. The NCAA’s stated goal of universities providing the student-athlete with a robust academic education can easily fall prey to the more imminent goal of remaining eligible to play. Despite the student-athlete’s academic interests, the difficulty level of certain

123 http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/11/20/cluster;

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/2008-11-18-majors-graphic_N.htm?csp=34 124 http://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2011-09-05/athletes-sticking-together-

classes

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 23

classes and the possibility of failure strongly dissuade at least some students from pursuing certain classes. Practically, the commitment and study time required for some disciplines has the effect of making it very difficult, if not impossible, to do both at the same time.

As a result, universities rely heavily on tutors to help athletes make the grade. Indeed, for most big-time athletic departments, tutoring constitutes a significant item in the budget. One view is that tutors serve a valuable function in helping students succeed. A more pessimistic view is that the students’ inability to learn the material on their own means that they rely on tutors to help, undermining their own learning process. A further disadvantage of the heavy involvement of tutors is the potential for academic fraud, or even help that moves into the gray area of who really did the work.

c. Athletic Participation Is a Full-Time Occupation

Likewise, participation in major college athletics is, for most student-athletes,

its own full-time occupation. Despite the NCAA’s limit of practice time to 20 hours a week, student-athletes often spend up to another 20 hours a week preparing for games, studying film, and reading playbooks. In addition, the travel involved in many sports adds considerable time. Other team policies, such as sequestering players in hotels the night before important games, also carve into the student’s time.

While athletic departments and coaches are often equally diligent about requiring students to spend time in study halls or otherwise focus on their studies, the academic demands required of student-athletes make for a challenging and demanding schedule. Add this to the academic deficiencies of many student-athletes when they enter college, and the challenge becomes even greater.

Again, this model creates a pressure cooker for all involved, and one not necessarily conducive to learning. The full-time commitment intercollegiate athletics requires cannot help but overwhelm a student-athlete’s academic pursuits, particularly during the season for the revenue sports.

24 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

d. Graduation Does Not Equal Education125 Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the core assumption of the NCAA’s

promotion of academics is that receiving a degree symbolizes academic achievement. On some level, this may be true, particularly for individuals who arrived at the university under-prepared for college. The NCAA’s APR scale clearly demonstrates that it has adopted this proxy.

The reality, though, is that it is very possible to receive a degree without receiving an education. This is particularly true where students, faculty, and/or administrators cut corners to maintain student-athlete eligibility. Certain athlete- friendly classes are at one end of the spectrum, with complete academic fraud, as at North Carolina, at the other end. It is difficult to assess the degree to which the academic degrees conferred on student-athletes reflect some degree of education. One would like to think that they all do, but media reports continue to suggest that this may not be the case, at least in some circumstances.

Focusing on graduation rates is not in itself bad, but if it merely adds pressure to a system fraught with academic challenges, it has the potential to compromise the delivery and utilization of education. Finding a more realistic approach to educating student-athletes—one that accounts for the full-time demands of both academics and athletics, will both help restore integrity to intercollegiate athletics and improve the likelihood of student-athletes receiving a robust education. The following modest proposal seeks to take a step in that direction.

II. THE PROPOSAL

If the NCAA is serious about its concept of “student-athlete,” it needs to

make immediate reforms to alleviate the pressure described above that arises from the commercialization of intercollegiate athletics. Accordingly, this article proposes a series of small reforms that will enhance the ability of college athletes to receive an educational opportunity more in line with that of other non-athlete

125 Sara Ganim, CNN analysis: Some college athletes play like adults, read like 5th-graders,

CNN.COM (Jan. 8, 2014), http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/us/ncaa-athletes-reading-scores/; Dennis Dodd, UNC whistleblower Willingham: Academic sin not isolated, CBSSPORTS.COM (Feb. 11, 2014), http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis- dodd/24439378/unc-whistleblower-willingham-academic-sins-not-isolated.

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students.

A. Mandate six-year scholarships for revenue-generating sports.

The first step to improving the ability of student-athletes to be students is to provide a six-year scholarship for athletes participating in revenue sports. The long tradition of the NCAA has been to allow universities to provide one-year renewable scholarships to student-athletes.126 This approach created the possibility of coaches choosing not to renew scholarships when athletes suffered injuries, or even worse, to provide the scholarships to new recruits who had better prospects for on-the-field success.127 Even worse, this situation was largely one-sided, as the NCAA transfer rule requires students to sit out for a year if transferring to another institution.128 In addition, the ability of the university to cancel scholarships after one year could put indigent students in a position requiring them to borrow significant amounts of money or leave school altogether. Thus, a student-athlete who does not have his or her scholarship renewed faces a difficult situation, while the university typically has no trouble filling the scholarship.129

In 2011, the NCAA and its member schools decided to provide universities the option of extending scholarships up to four years, to cover the athletic eligibility of the student-athletes. This reform has allowed some student-athletes,

126 The one-year scholarship rule has met with significant backlash in recent years,

including a 2010 antitrust suit and a narrowly passed NCAA rule amendment. While the NCAA now mandates that multiyear scholarships are available, they remain at the member school’s option. Michelle Brutlag Hosick, Multiyear scholarships to be allowed, NCAA.COM (Feb. 17, 2012), http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2012-02-17/multiyear-scholarships- be-allowed, Suit claims antitrust law violations, ESPN.COM (Oct. 26, 2010), http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5727755,

127 Technically, the Financial Aid Committee determines the renewal of scholarships to discourage this practice, but given the influence of coaches within some universities, it is certainly possible that such decisions were made based on ability and talent as opposed to academics or other reasons.

128 Student-athlete transfer policies are often dizzying. See Eamonn Brennan, Want to understand transfer rules? Give up, ESPN.COM (Aug. 28, 2013), http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/87697/trying-to-understand- transfer-rules-give-up; NCAA, Transfer 101, NCAA PUBLICATIONS.COM, http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/TGONLINE2012.pdf.

129 See supra note 120.

26 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

particularly those at wealthier institutions to have some security, at least with respect to their athletic career.130 There remains a wide variety in the number of such scholarships schools offer, varying among sports and within sports.131

As discussed above, the accompanying pressure for institutions to graduate their athletes also helps to ensure that athletes stay beyond one year.132 Nonetheless, many student-athletes do not receive four-year scholarships under the current system.133

Whether the university provides a four-year scholarship, or four consecutive one-year scholarships, the athletic department typically pays tuition, room, and board for student-athletes for four years. In addition, many football programs redshirt some of their student-athletes, sitting out their first year, meaning that the athletic department pays for a fifth year.134 This can also occur if a student- athlete suffers a significant injury that causes him or her to miss most of a season, with the NCAA granting a medical redshirt.135

In light of this current reality, the proposal of this Article seeks to give the student-athletes six years to complete their education. In other words, athletic scholarships would cover tuition, room, and board for students for six years.136

130 It is important to remember, though, that multiyear scholarships are awarded at the

university’s option. See supra note 120. 131 NCAA College Athletics Statistics, STATISTICS BRAIN.COM,

http://www.statisticbrain.com/ncaa-college-athletics-statistics/. 132 This is especially true of football players, who are unable to enter the draft until they are

out of high school for three years. See Clarett v. National Football League, 369 F. 3d 124 (2nd Cir. 2004), NFL Draft Rules, DRAFTSITE.COM, http://www.draftsite.com/nfl/rules/. The National Basketball Association, by comparison, allows players to enter the draft after only one year. National Basketball Players Association Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article X, NBPA.ORG, http://www.nbpa.org/cba/2005/article-x-player-eligibility-and-nba-draft.

133 In fact, at least one school has been outspoken against multiyear scholarships: “’Who gets a four-year, $120K deal guaranteed at age 17?’ Christine A. Plonsky, women’s athletic director at the University of Texas, wrote…’The last thing young people need right now is more entitlement.’” Zac Ellis, Report: NCAA multiyear scholarships not taking hold in major programs, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.COM (Apr. 19, 2013), http://college- football.si.com/2013/04/19/ncaa-multiyear-scholarships/.

134 NCAA rules, of course, limit student-athletes to four years of eligibility. 2013 – 2014 NCAA Division I Manual § 14.2 http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D114.pdf.

135 Id. at § 14.2.1.5.1.1(a) 136 This is particularly important for the revenue sports of men’s football and men’s

basketball.

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 27

This proposal would not require students to take six years to graduate, but would give them that option.

The argument for the proposal is three-fold: (1) many students take six years to graduate already, (2) the cost to the athletic department is not excessive, and (3) given the other parts of the proposal, six years is necessary to receive a worthwhile education. I explore each in turn.

First, at most large public universities, including those that dominate college football, four-year graduation rates among the general population of students are low. Many flagship state universities have four-year graduation rates of 40% or less.137 Indeed, the NCAA assumes a six-year academic career for its student- athletes already, as it measures their graduation rates for APR purposes using a six-year metric.

Second, at many universities, the school determines the amount of tuition a student pays per academic credit hour taken.138 As a result, the tuition burden of the student-athlete will be the same, irrespective of the time it takes to graduate.139 The increased costs, then, for many athletic departments under a required six-year scholarship would be for room and board only. While such costs are not incidental, the increase in television revenue, particularly at larger schools, could cover such costs.140

Finally, if student-athletes need only to take 3 hours per semester in-season,

137 College Completion, CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION,

http://collegecompletion.chronicle.com/state/#state=ms&sector=public_four; COLLEGE RESULTS ONLINE, http://www.collegeresults.org/default.aspx

138 For students enrolled in fewer than 12 hours, many universities charge per credit hour. Fees vary per school. See, among others, Undergraduate Tuition and Fees, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, http://www.umd.edu/catalog/index.cfm/show/content.section/c/49/s/962, Tuition, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, https://scs.georgetown.edu/admissions/tuition, Undergraduate Tuition and Fees, INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY, http://www.indstate.edu/tuition/overview.htm, Tuition and Fees Required of Every Student as a Condition of Enrollment, WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY, http://webs.wichita.edu/?u=tuitionfees&p=/2013/tuitionfees/, Tuition and fee schedules for all programs, UNIVERSITY OF AKRON, http://www.uakron.edu/student-accounts/costs/.

139 Note that for some schools, this might be different, but generally speaking, spreading the cost of tuition over six years instead of four is not an excessive cost to the university in most cases.

140 Eric Chemi, The Amazing Growth in College Football Revenues, BUSINESSWEEK.COM (Sep. 26, 2013), http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-26/the-amazing-growth-in- college-football-revenues.

28 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

as proposed below, a six-year time frame is necessary to complete the required academic work to graduate. Again, this seems like a small shift, particularly given that many student-athletes already spend five years on campus, and much of the general population takes five or six years to graduate.

B. Reduce Academic Load to 3 hours during in-season semesters.

The core part of the proposal is the reduction of the required academic hours

during the season (autumn for football, winter-spring for basketball) to 3 hours of academic credit. Currently, NCAA rules require that student-athletes take a minimum of 9 academic hours per semester.141

By allowing student-athletes to reduce their course load to 3 hours, this proposal takes into consideration the current requirements of athletic participation. As indicated above, NCAA rules allow college football and basketball teams to participate in up to 20 hours of required team activities per week.142 Studies show, however, that the reality for many student-athletes is that they spend closer to 40 hours per week on their sport.143

With the current limitations on practice schedules and time outside of the season, such a schedule would create a more reasonable burden on student- athletes. In particular, this model could really help the many student-athletes who come to college underprepared academically.144 Students who are partial qualifiers, usually known as “special admits,” and others who fall at the bottom

141 2013 – 2014 NCAA Division I Manual § 14.3

http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D114.pdf. 142 The NCAA limits weekly participation to 20 hours per week. NCAA Bylaw § 17.1.6.1. 143 The 2011 NCAA GOALS and SCORE study showed that students often spend 38

hours or more on practices, conditioning, film, etc. See pp. 16-20: http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/Goals10_score96_final_convention2011_public_versio n_01_13_11.pdf

144 Colleges and universities frequently make allowances for “special admits,” or relaxed admission standards for student-athletes. While this opens the door to a better chance for an education, it also sets these students who demonstrate a history for poor academic performance up for failure. Jeff Barker, ‘Special admissions’ bring colleges top athletes, educational challenges, THE BALTIMORE SUN (Dec. 22, 2012), http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-12-22/sports/bs- sp-acc-sports-special-admits-20121222_1_athletes-graduation-success-rate-college-courses; Allison Go, Athletes Show Huge Gaps in SAT Scores, U.S. NEWS (Dec. 30, 2008), http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/paper-trail/2008/12/30/athletes-show-huge-gaps-in- sat-scores.

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 29

end of eligible student-athletes in terms of their academic credentials would benefit from having time to adjust to college for an entire semester before having to take a full complement of classes.145 Further, slowing down the academic process and spreading it over six years would allow those individuals who have less academic ability to develop over their time at the university. In many ways, then, such an approach could act almost as a type of “academic redshirt.”

Student-athletes would also have a better chance to focus on their studies without the full-time burden of games in their sport during the off-semesters. The travel, media, public pressure, and campus focus on the athletic events alone provides significant distraction for athletes during the semester. Further, the travel schedule of many sports precludes those students from taking certain classes, particularly science labs. Having one of two semesters where the student-athlete’s experience can have some level of similarity to other undergraduate students would aid immensely in their academic education. Indeed, a recent study indicated that the academic motivation of football athletes in the spring semester significantly increased.146

Allowing student-athletes the opportunity to focus more completely on academics would not only improve their ability to learn, but also boost their grades. Perhaps more importantly, it would lessen the worry of maintaining academic eligibility, as the schedule would be much more manageable. This would provide students to more fully explore their academic interests, and put less pressure on limiting their curriculum to certain “athlete-friendly” classes. It would likewise diminish the clustering of majors phenomenon, and provide greater legitimacy to the academic achievements of student-athletes. Other potential gains include reduction of the need for tutoring. Over time, the image of the student-athlete among faculty on campus might improve, undermining the current “athlete-student” stereotype that is pervasive on many college campuses.

Perhaps most significantly, students would have two full years, after their eligibility expires, in which to focus on “going pro” in something besides sports (for the large majority that does not make the cut professionally). Student- athletes, then, would spend half of their college career as just students, without

145 For basketball players, of course, this would be a second semester phenomenon. 146 Ian R. Potter, Investigating academic motivation among NCAA division I football

players within their competition and non-competition semesters., Doctorial Dissertaion (2013) Available at http://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1872&context=etd.

30 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

the responsibility or obligations of athletics. An important part of the proposal is requiring the three hours of academic

work in-season. The reason for this requirement is to keep the student-athletes enrolled as students at all times. Otherwise, having a semester without classes would move the student-athletes in a direction that makes them look more like employees and less like students, a proposition the NCAA fears.

Further, requiring one class will keep the student-athletes connected to the university academically, albeit in a small way, which will help maintain some level of continuity in their studies.

C. Reduce College Basketball Season to One Semester.

One additional change necessary for the proposal to work would be the reduction of the college basketball season to one semester. Currently, the season begins in early November, with teams playing several games, including early season tournaments around the fall semester examination period.147 As football season is still in full swing, these games are often not a large source of revenue anyway,148 and moving them into December and/or eliminating them entirely would seem to be a possible outcome. If necessary, the NCAA could extend the regular season one week to create time for the additional games.

It is worth noting that I am not the first to advocate for such a change. As Dan Wolken and others have pointed out, the amount of revenue generated, the level of competition, and the popularity of the sport could increase by shifting the season entirely into the spring semester.149

147 In recent years, the NCAA has considered and approved earlier practice dates for

college basketball programs, presumably to increase competition and athleticism earlier in the season. The effect is that student-athletes are forced to miss additional classes ,further diminishing their ability to realize an effective fall semester. Michelle Brutlag Hosick, Calendar Moves Forward For Midnight Madness, NCAA.ORG (May 3, 2013), http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/calendar-moves-forward-midnight- madness; Eamonn Brennan, Earlier practice date approved for fall, ESPN.COM (May 3, 2013), http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/84230/earlier-practice-date- approved-for-fall.

148 For many schools, this would be moving only a handful of games, as teams typically do not play many November games.

149 Dan Wolken, NCAA should shift basketball season, FoxSports.com (Feb. 29, 2012), http://gamedayr.com/sports/college-basketball-one-semester-sport-91693/#.

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The idea here is to limit the games to one semester, so that the students can fully focus in the classroom as discussed previously. While basketball will have an intense practice season in the fall leading up to the season, postponing games until after the completion of the first semester will reduce the impact of team duties on academic performance.

For other sports the one semester season seems to be less of a problem. Certainly for football and baseball, their games are in the fall and spring semesters, respectively. For some other non-revenue sports, this may be more of a problem, but they might be acceptable exceptions given the student-athlete results in such sports. Unlike in the big revenue sports of football and basketball, non-revenue student-athletes have traditionally had a much stronger record in the classroom. Indeed, if the NCAA adopted the proposal advocated herein, most non-revenue student-athletes would likely take a full academic load and graduate in four years.

D. Limit Eligibility to the First Four Years

The final part of the proposal is to require the student-athlete to complete

their eligibility in their first four years at the institution. The common practice, at least for college football, has been to redshirt a large number of incoming freshmen student-athletes. The idea is, in part, a vestige of the historical system that did not allow freshmen to participate in varsity athletics. The benefit under the current system is to allow the student-athlete to adjust to university life, but more importantly, to improve physically for a year before playing in games. This process, though, merely extends the athletic career of the student-athlete; its academic benefits are marginal because the responsibilities of the redshirted athlete do not substantially differ from the rest of the student-athletes on the team.

Requiring student-athletes to exhaust their eligibility in the first four years, then, allows them to get the athletic responsibilities out of the way after four years and thus enable greater focus on academics during the last two years of college. Indeed, that is the core thought behind the proposal of this paper—it is hard to succeed in the classroom and on the field at the same time, without compromising one or both. And typically, it is the classroom that is the victim. Limiting eligibility to four years, with 3 hour semesters in-season creates a much better opportunity for balance and per the NCAA’s goals, a better opportunity for education of athletics, both athletically and academically.

32 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

The one potential exception to this rule would be medical redshirts. Currently, the NCAA grants a fifth year of athletic eligibility to some student- athletes in situations where an injury precludes competition for most of a season. Under this model, medical redshirts would still be acceptable, but in such cases, students would have to take a full academic load in-season.

On the whole, the model then requires four elements: (1) required six year scholarships (2) changing the NCAA rule to require only 3 hours per semester, (3) limiting sports, at least revenue ones, to one semester, and (4) requiring completion of eligibility within four years.

III. JUSTIFICATIONS

A. Amateurism Fails without Real Educational Opportunity

The obvious justification for adopting the proposed reforms is to recapture

the amateurism model, at least to some degree, by refocusing some rules on the welfare of the student-athlete. As discussed above, the model of amateurism rests in large part on the idea that the ultimate goal is the education of the student. Indeed, the athletics themselves, from the NCAA’s perspective, are a part of that education. But, they should not be the only part.

For the amateurism model to succeed, student-athletes must have real educational opportunity. This does not mean that student-athletes must merely receive the path of least resistance (with extensive tutoring) to a college degree of some sort. Instead, student-athletes should have an opportunity to pursue any course of study they desire, and be able to do so in a robust manner.

If the reality of commercialized intercollegiate athletics is that it requires a commitment that seriously compromises the academic opportunity of student- athletes, the amateurism model begins to collapse. With each step that universities take toward compromising academic education for student-athletes, the model loses credibility, and ultimately, sustainability. This is because the commercial value of the athletics success ultimately will overtake the academic component of the university.150

At first, the academic requirements become a hassle to the student-athlete, and ultimately become an impediment to the athletic success that receives

150 Some have argued that this happened long ago.

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 33

greater significance, both for the athlete and the university. In such a world, the amateurism model seems less authentic. Indeed, the criticism is that the model is simply a tool to keep athletes from receiving their share of the financial windfall arising from the athletic competitions.

To avoid the perception, then, that the amateurism model and the concept of student-athlete is merely a sham, then, universities must provide real educational opportunity for students. This does not mean opportunity that does not interfere with athletics. Rather, it means opportunity in spite of athletics.

The advantage of the proposal advanced in this article with respect to this idea is that it is more realistic concerning these competing demands. By separating the academic and athletic pursuits temporally, it allows each to complement each other, rather than oppose each other. In essence, it provides a road map for preserving the amateurism model.

B. Students Deserve a Chance at an Education

Perhaps more important than saving the concept of amateurism is providing

student-athletes a genuine chance at an education. As detailed above, participation in revenue sports compromises the ability of most student-athletes to receive the kind of education that ordinary students do.

Adopting a more realistic educational model, as the one advocated above, at least deepens the possibility that this will happen. By limiting the academic requirements during the season, athletes can focus on their sports without having to attempt to strike the virtually impossible balance between academics and athletics. In the off-seasons and the two years after the expiration of eligibility, student-athletes will have fewer distractions and can pursue their desired course of study.

This approach will be particularly valuable to students with low test scores or otherwise deficient qualifications. Such students can take remedial classes in season, and have more time to get up to speed academically. Likewise, by making expectations more realistic on such student-athletes, the possibility for academic success increases. In addition, first generation college students also will thrive under this arrangement, as spreading the course of study over six years will enhance their ability to adjust to college life and acquire the cultural capital needed to succeed academically.

Beyond the time constraints associated with athletics, college athletes frequently face a certain stigma on campus, possibly further preventing them

34 WILLIAM W. BERRY III [2-Mar-14

from realizing their full academic potential. Moving athletic seasons to a single semester will not only allow athletes to better concentrate on studies, but can also give them an opportunity to overcome any stigma associated with being a student athlete.151

As Jeff Stone has argued, the way schools and the NCAA have relaxed admission and eligibility standards, student-athletes now have a “dumb jock” stigma hanging over their heads that penetrates throughout campus: in the classroom from both students and professors as well as on a social level.152 That school newspapers and national news publish academic eligibility stats for individual athletes furthers this stigma.153

It is certainly possible that some students will drop out of college after completing their eligibility. It is surprising nonetheless, that such individuals would forego the free housing, meals, and tuition in doing so. Providing students with a genuine opportunity for education is preferable to providing a sham version that results in a degree but not an education. Indeed, if universities cannot impress upon such students the value of education during their first four years on campus, the institutions need to re-evaluate their educational process.

C. Universities Have an Obligation to Educate

Even beyond the value of saving the amateurism model and providing

student-athletes a fair chance at a robust education, colleges and universities have an obligate to educate all of their students, not just the ones who do not play intercollegiate athletics. At the heart of the mission of most institutions of higher education is the goal and responsibility to educate their students.

And education, not big-time athletics, is what the universities can and should do well. The mission and obligation of all higher education institutions is to educate their students and prepare them for the workforce. It should be no

151 See Jeff Stone, A Hidden Toxicity in the Term “Student-Athlete”: Stereotype Threat for

Athletes in the College Classroom, 2 WAKE FOREST J.L. & POL'Y 179, 184 (2012)(arguing 152 Id. 153 See, e.g., Pete Volk, Auburn, Florida State players all academically eligible for BCS game,

SBNation.com (Dec. 28, 2013), http://www.sbnation.com/college- football/2013/12/28/5251990/bcs-national-championship-fsu-auburn-players-eligible; Jake Trotter, 3 Texas players out of Alamo Bowl, ESPN.com (Dec. 22, 2013), http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls13/story/_/id/10180623/texas-longhorns-daje- johnson-kennedy-estelle-jalen-overstreet-academically-ineligible-alamo-bowl-vs-oregon-ducks

2-Mar-14] EDUCATING ATHLETES 35

different with student-athletes. If higher education really seeks to educate, and not merely create hoops to jump through to receive a piece of paper, it should seek to maximize that opportunity for all of its student-athletes.

CONCLUSION

Over the past quarter century, the commercialism of intercollegiate athletics

has placed an increasing number of obstacles in the way of the academic education of student-athletes. If the student-athlete model is to survive, the NCAA and its member universities should reinvest in the concept of academic education.

This article offers a proposal to take a step in that direction. It proposes the adoption of six-year scholarships and reducing the required academic hours in season to three. It would make student-athletes part-time students for four years, and allow them two years without intercollegiate athletics in which to complete their degree. As explained above, this approach is a more realistic and robust approach to ensuring that student-athletes are able to maximize the educational opportunities that a university has to offer.