In appearance after appearance – speech, interview, panel discussion –
NCAA president Mark Emmert likes to fall back on an ideal of innocence
in defending his organization.
He calls it the "collegiate model of athletics."
It's used as a shield against claims the players should profit off any
financial windfall they create more than the traditional tuition, room
and board, have professional representation or really any argument for
reform.
Jarrod Uthoff spent a season on the bench. (US Presswire)
"The whole principle of the collegiate model of athletics is these are
college students who play sports," Emmert said last month at the Final
Four. "If they want to be professional athletes, those options are
available to them and I would encourage them to pursue them and I hope
they do well at them."
It isn't that simple, and Emmert knows it. Whether he actually truly believes in the collegiate model is anyone's guess.
What we do know, with Wisconsin basketball player Jarrod Uthoff serving
as the latest example, is that in practice, some coaches see Emmert's
system otherwise.
These aren't college students that play sports. They are commodities to be controlled.
Uthoff is a 6-foot-8 freshman from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who is looking to
transfer, mainly because he thinks the Badgers' playing style doesn't
best fit his game. He came to that conclusion during a season spent
practicing but not playing.
"After having a year under the system, I have a much better
understanding of what the system entails and I want to find a better
fit," Uthoff told Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday.
He told Badgers coach Bo Ryan of his decision last week, and while
Uthoff thinks that conversation should stay between them, he thought
they left it well enough. "It was OK," he said.
Then he said he received word from the university that he was prohibited
from transferring to any school in the Big Ten and ACC, as well as Iowa
State and Marquette. That's 25 schools Ryan has deemed impermissible.
Under NCAA statutes, a school can block a player from transferring to
any school it wishes and have the athlete still receive athletic aid for
the first year. The player also must sit out a season. It's a terrible
rule, one that even in the best of circumstances belies the "collegiate
model." This is one of the worst.
"I didn't expect it," said Uthoff, who said he didn't know a school could block him when he originally signed with Wisconsin.
Unfortunately, this isn't unusual. It's common enough that high-profile
cases have emerged in just the past six months at Saint Joseph's, Tulsa
and Maryland. MetroSportsReport.com first reported the Uthoff story
Tuesday.
Almost every transfer involves some restrictions. There shouldn't be any
unless another program has tampered with a player, a determination that
should be made by the NCAA, not a jilted coach.
Uthoff's 25-school ban isn't even a record. In 2009, Miami barred
quarterback Robert Marve from transferring to the other 11 schools in
the ACC, 12 in the SEC and four other in-state programs, a whopping 27
colleges. Marve, a Tampa native, had to go all the way to Purdue in West
Lafayette, Ind.
There may be an even higher example. If not, there will be. Just give these guys time.
Wisconsin declined to make Ryan available to Yahoo! Sports. Uthoff said
he has appealed the decision to school officials, although he didn't
have a timeframe on a decision. In the meantime, he plans to visit
Creighton on Monday.
The circumstances of Uthoff's decision to leave or Ryan's decision to
ban are immaterial. This is about the hypocrisy of the NCAA and its
millionaire coaches and administrators.
When it comes to dodging calls for increased compensation for athletes,
for fairer treatment of breadwinners, for explanation on why this entire
billion-dollar enterprise remains tax-free, they lean on that simple
collegiate model – these are just
college students who play sports.
When it comes to actually running the enterprise, even a kid who's never
scored a point is considered a controllable entity, a professional who
signed a contract (a scholarship agreement that was neither individually
nor collectively bargained, of course) with a school and must adhere to
the letter of it.
Non-compete agreements are common in the working world, although not
among college coaches and administrators who routinely skip town at the
first improved offer.
If Emmert, Ryan, et al, want to resort to the "preparing young Mr.
Uthoff for going pro in something other than sports" argument and thus
teach him the value of a non-compete clause, well, that's for a
professional setting, where the worker gets paid.
This is supposed to be a collegiate one, hearts, flowers and kids shooting hoops after chem lab, right?
Ryan rightfully is being raked over the coals on this. It's petty. It's
heavy-handed. It's a bad, bad look for himself and his program and the
administrators who are allowing it. They should all be ashamed, all the
way to the university president and the Big Ten and the NCAA itself.
Bo Ryan is making $2.1 million per year, a rate that should demand he
figures out how to successfully operate his program in spite of a
teenager changing his mind. Wisconsin basketball is not going to crumble
because it might have to face off against a former player one day.
Uthoff declined to offer an opinion on the rule. He sounded like a guy
trying to figure out what was going to hit next. "It'd be nice to just
be able to move on where I want," he said.
That should be "nice" for everyone involved. If you truly care about the
students doing well, then there should be zero restrictions placed on
them if they want to leave. If this were an academic scholarship, you'd
expect the department head to perhaps express disappointment but wish
him well.
That's academics. This is athletics, where they love to bloviate about
teaching all these life lessons, yet can't figure out how to be the
bigger person, be the better person, be the adult.
This is the inherent problem with Emmert's moralizing and excuse-making. It's the inherent problem with the NCAA itself.
The hypocrisy is in the day-in, day-out actions, in the repeated proof
that many of the high-profile people who make up the organization care
nothing about any collegiate model or the betterment of
"student-athletes" unless those student-athletes are doing something to
better the adults first.
That is Mark Emmert's real collegiate model, no matter his speeches.
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