A interview is out today by former North Carolina basketball star Rashad McCants who said that while at UNC, and especially during their championship run in 2005, he took sham paper-classes where the papers were written by tutors and rarely (if ever) he actually went to class. According to McCants, his job as a collegian was to simply "show up and play (basketball)."
Accusations of academic misconduct at North Carolina have been brewing for a few months, and this report is just the latest in a series of accusations ranging from fraudulent classes to cheating tutors.
The union boys over at Northwestern might be onto something.
As I've already articulated here at the blog a few months ago, if the concept of amateurism is not already dead, it is on life support with somebody ready to pull the plug. Who would have thought even 5 years ago, let alone 10, 20, or 30, that college athletes would even consider joining a labor union? Who would have even thought that they would be considered "employees" of an academic institution? However, accusations such as these at UNC, if verified to be true, certainly would lend some weight to their arguments.
Now I have said numerous times that I am all for fairness toward athletes, although this does not mean paying them. What really needs to get reformed is the entire culture of college athletics. In an ideal world, college athletics would be more like the Division III model where everyone is a walk-on. Nevertheless, the whole concept of a scholarship is to afford college and all its benefits on students who otherwise would not be able to afford it. College tuition being what it is, athletic scholarship is really the only way several kids nationwide can have a crack at college. However, thanks to the ever flowing money coming from rich booster clubs and alumni who just want to thump their chests about their alma maters' football teams (not to mention all the gambling riches), more and more emphasis has been placed on the athletic success instead of the life success that college is really supposed to be preparing its students.
In this latest UNC scandal, McCants recounted that since coach Roy Williams took the helm in 2003, his "grades" dramatically improved. As a freshman, with coach Matt Doherty, his GPA was in the proverbial tank, thus jeopardizing his NCAA eligibility. However, when this issue was brought to the attention of the new coach, Williams took advantage of some creative course selection and tutorship so that McCants' "grades" skyrocketed to straight A's and a Dean's List in 2005. All the while, McCants saw the inside of a classroom less than half of that semester. What he was doing the rest of the time is anybody's guess, but thanks to the so-called "paper-courses," the only thing necessary for a grade was a single "paper," which according to McCants, was written by the tutors, and let's just say that some of the other papers written by UNC's finest...were not of the finest quality.
All this does is support the wide ranging accusations that players are nothing more than pawns in a grand scheme to raise the school money exploiting their athletic talents. Meanwhile, to call what these players are receiving in return an "education" is insulting, and that is the biggest travesty of all. If these players do not make professional rosters (which if you believe statistics is a better than average chance), their chances of succeeding in the real world is practically zero, and there will be no players union to support them.
How can this be fixed without having to concede that players are employees and a union is their only way of getting the support they need? It really is simple. Make sure that student-athletes are STUDENTS first, and ATHLETES second. The mission of every college in the world is to prepare all of their students for success in the world. Athletic careers are fleeting, with even the best professional players of our generation retiring in their 40s. People need skills to survive, especially in a down economy where employers are looking now more than ever for workers with highly specialized skill sets. For any athlete who receives a college scholarship, constant checks on classroom attendance should be mandatory, as well as (legitimate) mandatory tutoring. Self-directed and "paper-classes" should not be an option, due to the obvious opportunities for fraud. Academic eligibility requirements do not need to be tinkered, they just need to be enforced, and coaches need to be educated on them more than they already are. To wit, coaches' performances should not just be measured by on-field and on-court success, but by classroom success as well. If the 6-year graduation rates for an athletic program fall below certain thresholds, coaches can be at risk for loss of salary or even termination. Does that sound extreme? Perhaps, but you have to remember the goal here is ultimately going to be life success, and that goes way beyond sports. College coaches are not professional coaches. They coach kids, and they are teachers just as much as they are coaches, and if their students are not ready for what awaits them after their eligibility expires, then they have not done their jobs.
For those that say that the money is the problem, they have a point. Now I am not going to say that Division I has to become Division III, not by any stretch. Division I schools and athletic departments do have an obligation to support their athletes as they are ambassadors for the school in addition to students. I am all for supporting the full cost of attendance (honestly...I thought scholarships already did that. I was wrong). However, that should be ALL the support they need. Since most of these Power 5 schools are just dripping with cash as it is, there is going to be a surplus. Colleges are not-for-profit enterprises. How much of that money gets spent on new science department equipment? Or the arts? These are other ways that schools can support the full cost of attendance, by exposing athletes to other areas of expertise beyond their athletic talents. Let them know that there are other careers available to them that they will (at some point) need to explore. Not everyone can just fit into an ESPN analyst chair when they retire. Thus, some revenue sharing between fat athletic departments and the rest of the school is an excellent idea. This would also allow some of the smaller schools who do not have quite as rich an athletic budget to at least maintain a somewhat more level playing field.
I'm not saying that coaches like Nick Saban (who I like to pick on here granted) need a pay cut either. However, with great wealth comes great responsibility. Yes, he wins football games, but are his players ready for life as well as the game? I don't care how many national titles you win, if your players are not prepared for what will come after their eligibility has expired, you have not done your job.
Message to presidents, ADs, coaches, and administrators all across the NCAA fruited plain. Do your job. Do right by this kids. Make sure they are STUDENTS first, and take your TEACHER responsibilities seriously. If you do that, you will never have to hear about the College Athletic Players Association ever again.
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