Saving College Football and Basketball:

14 Reforms

Angela Lumpkin Department of Health, Sport, and

Exercise Sciences

Introduction

Institutional subsidies and student fees have been invested

in intercollegiate athletics because it was claimed that

intercollegiate athletic programs led to increased applications, donations, political support,

national visibility through free advertising via the sport media, and a positive campus culture.

Introduction

These positive outcomes were believed to surpass any ethical compromises associated with

amateurism, recruiting practices outside the rules, exceptions to

admission standards, missed classes, and increased

commercialization focused on winning.

End the Myth of Amateurism

Provide athletes the full cost of

education

Institutions pay the cost of tuition for

athletes

Stop exploiting football and men’s basketball players who are limited by

the NCAA to receiving tuition,

fees, rooms, board, and books

Eliminate Preferred or Special Admissions for Recruited Athletes

Coaches promise college

degrees, yet require athletes to prioritize

their sports

Many unqualified athletes fail to

graduate because they were admitted

without meeting institutional academic

requirements

Award Four-Year Grants-in-Aid

Coaches exert immense

control over athletes’ time because they

decide whether to

renew grants-in-aid

If athlete signs grant-in-aid, he or she should not

be permitted to sign a professional sport

contract for four years

End serving as developmental leagues

for NFL and NBA

Get Tough on Coaches and Athletes Who Break the Rules

Impose lifetime bans for repeated violations

by coaches and players

Vacate wins for coaches who violate recruiting rules and athletes

who violate eligibility

rules

Suspend coaches

and players for at

least one season for rule

violations

Limit Sport Seasons, Competitions, and Travel While Classes Are in Session

Limit each sport to no more than one competition or day of competition per week

Reduce the current

number of competitions by at least

20% for each sport

Limit practice and competitive seasons per sport to one

academic semester

Excuse athletes from

classes no more than

five days per academic year for travel and competitions

Require One-Year Residency for Athletic Eligibility

Base academic eligibility on a first-year student’s academic performance in college, not on a

standardized test score or high school grades

Give each first-year student an

equal opportunity to

earn eligibility to participate

Enable each first-year student to make a less

stressful transition into the academic and

social life of college

Reorganize Academic Counseling and Support Services for Athletes

Placing control over these services under the auspices of institutional faculty and

academic administrators would eliminate the perception or reality that athletes enjoy preferential treatment,

receive unearned grades, or have others complete their academic assignments

Raise Academic Requirements for Post-Season Competition

Require a minimum Academic Progress Rate of 950 for each team and a 50% graduation

rate to qualify for a conference championship and other post-

season competition

Reduce Expenditures in Football and Men’s Basketball

Reduce expenditures in

football and men’s basketball and limit grants-in-aid and team rosters to 65 in

football and 12 in basketball

Eliminate moving players to hotels on nights before

home football games and

basketball teams traveling to away games one day in

advance for shoot-a-rounds

Limit the Salaries of Head Coaches in Football and Men’s Basketball

Reduce exorbitant salaries paid to many head coaches in football and men’s basketball to

reduce the emphasis on winning and revenue production

Eliminate incentives or bonuses paid to coaches when their teams win championships and bowl games

Limit the Number of Assistant Coaches in Football and Men’s Basketball

Limit the number of assistant coaches in football to eight and the number of assistant coaches in men’s basketball to two and the total salaries

of all of the assistant coaches by sport to no more than the

salary of the head coach

Lessen the

control coaches

have over athletes’ lives with

fewer coaches

Revise Distribution of Television Revenues from Men’s Division I Basketball Championship

Revise the distribution of revenues from television for the men’s

Division I basketball championship so these revenues are based on the

academic performance of athletes, not primarily on winning or number of appearances in the tournament

Reclaim Control over the Locations and Times of Competitions

Reclaim control over when games are played from broadcasters, such as ESPN that schedules

games anytime and anywhere they are profitable

Realign conferences to reduce travel, not seek greater revenues, to emphasize class

attendance and academic achievement

Make Intercollegiate Athletic Budgets and Financial Reports Transparent

Publicize and make easier understandable how athletic department funds are

generated, such as through ticket sales and donations, provided by other sources, such as from multi-million institutional subsidies

and student fees, and expended, such as for coaches’ salaries and facilities

Intercollegiate athletics began as a positive aspect of extracurricular learning

experiences of students. By significantly reducing the highly commercialized

emphasis on winning in football and men’s basketball, which leads to coaches and

athletes often violating the rules, maybe intercollegiate athletics could be returned to its educational roots and more closely

aligned with the academic purpose of higher education.