Acknowledging the Past is NCAA's Key to the Future - Today's Take

Inside Carolina senior reporter Greg Barnes on the latest news regarding the Presidential College Sports Reform Committee draft proposal to provide order to the new landscape of college athletics. The potential is there to correct the wrongs of the past for the NCAA and move forward in a structured manner that is good for all involved in college sports.

“I have a pretty negative view of how we got here. If you go back to 2004, when that hearing took place for Jeremy Bloom, that was about the same time the ACC was having meetings with student athletes and the ADs were not allowed to buy pizza for the student athletes because it would have been an impermissible benefit. We’ve mentioned this before as well — when Carolina was under investigation for players sleeping on a former teammate’s couch, that was also impermissible. 

“So I don’t have any sympathy whatsoever for the NCAA and how they got to where they are. You have a situation where they really restricted what student athletes could do financially for a long, long time, and they finally got caught. And then with some of these court cases, the doors blew open, and that’s what we’re dealing with now. So when I see phrases like ‘the degradation of college athletics,’ well, who’s responsible for that? It’s not the student athletes — they are getting now what they always deserved.

“Part of this is the NCAA has been able to settle out of court and it’s kept them ticking along, but we are finally seeing that there are so many cases that that’s no longer true. The NCAA has seen this avalanche coming at them, and I think for the first time in a long time, it’s clear that they’re not going to win in the current landscape. So that gives me some optimism that maybe they are willing to make the necessary changes to have some viability moving forward.

“They’re going to have to give up a lot, because student athletes have earned that over the years. But when you see proposals like this, I think it does show the potential. And more than anything, whether or not this proposal actually passes, it really shines a light on what national leaders think needs to happen. And that’s a good thing. I think this is a good start. There’s a lot more work that needs to be done, but if the NCAA has really had that come to Jesus meeting with all their different parts, maybe it is time that they’re willing to make some of these necessary changes. It all begins with the NCAA acknowledging the past and making sure they have the right approach moving forward.”