Starving All-Stars

Click here to see the video of Napier's Interview

Because winning a National Championship is a newsworthy achievement for any team, it was no surprise that the media devoted a lot of coverage to the UConn men's basketball team in the hours and days following their victory over the University of Kentucky last April. What was surprising, however, was that an enormous amount of that coverage wasn’t focused on the actual title game or even the teams’ athletic achievement.
Many of the stories about UConn the morning after the championship game focused instead on a claim made by MVP Shabazz Napier. In a televised interview, Napier revealed that he and other student athletes often went to bed starving. He further discussed his opinions about student-athlete compensation in the NCAA. These comments became a central topic in much of the postgame coverage. Of course, Napier’s comments were just one part of the ongoing discussion of student-athlete treatment by the NCAA.
     Another story posted earlier today discussed a similar claim made by former UConn basketball star who claimed that he would have stayed in collegiate sports his senior year if the NCAA would have allowed student-athletes to be paid. 
     These are just a few examples of the major debates taking place about the role of money in amateur sports. Superstar quarterback Johnny Manziel also made headlines when accusations arose that he received money for autographing memorabilia. Northwestern students and alumni argued that athletes were actually employees and should be entitled to benefits. The Ed O’Bannon trial is currently underway, in which former athletes are seeking to overturn or at least alter NCAA rules about the treatment of student athletes.
     With the billions of dollars being made in college sports, it is no wonder that many are concerned about the lack of compensation for athletes. Of course there are thought-provoking arguments on both sides of the conversation and it’s not likely this debate will be resolved anytime soon.