The NCAA continues taking steps toward allowing athletes to be compensated for their name, likeness and image.
The NCAA’s Board of Governors announced Wednesday that they support athletes being allowed to appear in advertisements and reference their sport and school; however, they can’t wear any school or conference logos. The proposed rule changes must be voted on by the NCAA membership in January.
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum has been an outspoken critic of the NCAA and president Mark Emmert, and his latest comments on the network’s show Get Up pull no punches.
“The rich are going to get richer,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s Get Up. “In relation to the NCAA, the NCAA needs to be put out of business anyway. It’s a sham organization. I think the power-five commissioners are slowly moving toward more autonomy. This is the NCAA’s last stand. They had to do it. They had a gun to their head. It was way too late. Hopefully, let’s be aspirational here, the NCAA won’t exist in a couple of years and players can do whatever they want. They’re going to do it anyway. Coaches are going to continue to cheat. They don’t care what the NCAA thinks about this. I think we’re all going to be better off…I think they are moving toward (the power five conferences breaking away). It’s not easy to do because of the NCAA basketball tournament but we are certainly moving in that direction.”
There’s been much discussion over the years about schools breaking away from the NCAA; however, it’s never really been this close. Finebaum thinks the NCAA’s hands were tied and felt things slipping away. Thus, the Board of Governors ruled in favor of the student-athletes.
Yes, this is good for athletes, but it makes things very complicated.
You can watch Finebaum’s full comments below:
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
