Story by
Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Shipley: Eligibility lawsuit reveals an NCAA turned on its head
- Story byPioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
- Shipley: Eligibility lawsuit reveals an NCAA turned on its head
There is a terrific Sparks song about a guy who gladly leaves the regimentation of college only to discover that the world outside isn't nearly as fun. "Oh, please," the narrator pleads, "let me back into school."
This scenario is, in a way, playing out in court right now as a large handful of college athletes petition a court to grant them an additional year of eligibility because, well, the money's better. Or, if we're being generous, because their promised four years of eligibility weren't enough to prove their mettle to professional teams.
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This has been a conspicuous issuce here because Cade Tyson, a forward who led the Gophers' men's basketball team in scoring last season, is part of a lawsuit against the NCAA that could get him another year on the hardwood.
The biggest reason for the suit is that the NCAA recently granted all student-athletes five years of athletic eligibility over five years of school. The plaintiffs in Wisne v. NCAA, contend that as the last incoming class not afforded that opportunity, they should have been grandfathered into the new system.
That is the heart of the case, which upon examination isn't much of a case, That has left the plaintiffs' attorneys to instead explain to a three-judge court of appeals panel in Colorado exactly how the NCAA — which rather blithely created the wack-a-doodle system that has greatly helped these student-athletes — is now the bad guy.
One can make a case that the NCAA is a bad actor for, say, failing the majority of its constituents to favor its most wealthy members in order to prop up a status quo that will ultimately leave even more schools on the outside looking in. But the bad guy in the personal journey of these particular athletes?
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Good luck.
There is a sympathy vote here, buried somewhere, for the students who just missed out on that extra year of eligibility. Oooh, so close! But that's what the logicians call an appeal emotion, officially recognized as a logical fallacy. Yeah, man, that sucks.
Generations for time immemorial have missed the benefits of future rules and laws. The olden days fade piece by piece, one rule at a time. For more detail, read some history or just talk to the women in your life.
The reality is, these student-athletes are members of the first few classes to receive the full benefit of student-minded reforms recently, if begrudgingly, passed by the NCAA.
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Outside of the free tutoring, generous training facilities and free room and board, these student-athletes were the first to receive scholarships for the full cost of tuition, earn NIL money from the degree of fame they get while playing college sports and — in some way, shape or form — receive a share of the revenue schools make through their NCAA contracts (a pool of nearly $22 million per school this season).
Some of these players, and Tyson would be in that group, can make six figures or considerably more for another year of eligibility. The Gophers, and deep-pocketed boosters, will gladly make this happen because Tyson's presence would instantly improve the prospects in head coach Niko Medved's second season.
For a broad-stroke comparison, a player in the NBA's development league and not on a two-way, NBA deal, can make a maximum of $50,000 over a five-month season.
The judges in this case have asked a lot of trenchant questions , such as why the experiences and or prospects of this class should be different than for any other NCAA athlete, and how to qualify the market for the suit's antitrust claim. Schools don't want the hoi polloi to know what these men and women are making, and they sure as snot aren't gonna make it public for a one-off extra year of eligibility.
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The individual investments in some of these kids, taking into account the scholarship, medical, board, etc., must be astonishing.
It's more than a little rich. The organization that worked for decades to keep student-athletes from being paid in any way beyond a scholarship is now fighting to evict a group of players who want to come back because for one last season, the money will be better in college.
College sports have come a long way in a short time.
