Brittany Young

In July, the NCAA cleared student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. While the new NIL policy does not allow the NCAA, member schools or their employees to pay student-athletes, they can hire agents to pursue endorsements and sponsorships to capitalize financially.

Student-athletes can now generate income from endorsement deals and ventures like playing video games with fans, signing autographs and booking speaking engagements.

Since the sports careers of many student athletes end at the collegiate level, it is crucial that they have the opportunity to monetize their brand while they are at the top of their game.

While the changes have largely benefited star athletes who play high-revenue sports like football and men’s basketball, other athletes have positioned themselves for significant financial gain due to their social media influence.

A study from Temple University conducted in February of this year found that women and athletes from less popular sports would have about the same earning power as those playing football and men’s basketball

For example, it’s reported that LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne has the most combined social media followers of any collegiate athlete, with over 5 million, and is estimated to have turned that following into multi-million dollar brand deals.

And other women athletes, who play sports like volleyball, softball and basketball have signed partnership deals as well.

Women, especially, being able to tap into this earning power while in college is significant, because they don’t have the same professional opportunities as men in sports.

NIL policy has also benefited standout athletes who’ve decided to take their talents to underfunded and overlooked schools, like Historically Black Colleges and Universities, proving that they don’t have to go to big-time programs to see big-time money.

Tennessee State basketball player Hercy Miller reportedly signed a four-year brand ambassador deal with a tech company worth $2 million. And football players from schools like Alabama A&M, Johnson C. Smith, Norfolk State and Jackson State have also reaped the benefits of NIL legislation.

Like women, it’s important for black athletes to take advantage of opportunities to increase their incomes while still playing. Having financial stability during and after their athletic careers is substantial because many of them come from underprivileged backgrounds.

Furthermore, for athletes who aren’t star players or who don’t have a huge social media following, there’s still money to be made using the talents and skills they have outside of their sport, like in music, art, writing and cooking.

Nevertheless, now that every athlete has a fair playing field to make money, it’s important that they’re provided with tools and resources to manage their money and to transition into their professional careers post-sports, which will be the focus of my next piece.

Update: Hercy Miller has left Tennessee State University and entered the transfer portal. According to the Tennessean, the transfer won’t impact his NIL deal.

Wendell Hudson was the first African American scholarship athlete in The University of Alabama’s history. Last month, he made history, again, becoming the university’s first student-athlete to have his jersey retired.

But what about the unsung heroes whose stories are untold because they don’t have a storybook ending?  Today, I want to reflect on the life of a forgotten pioneer.

Henry Harris was the first African American scholarship athlete at any SEC school in the Deep South (South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana) . In the book Remember Henry Harris: Lost Icon of A Revolution: A Story of Hope and Self-Sacrifice in America, he’s praised as “the pride of the people and the promise of a new day.”

Harris and his siblings were raised by a single mother in Boligee, Ala., where he attended Greene County Training School. He was the editor of the school newspaper and president and valedictorian of his senior class. He also averaged over 30 points per game in basketball.

He was the center of an Alabama-Auburn recruiting face-off for what would be either school’s first black scholarship student-athlete and basketball player. Auburn won the battle and Henry began his college career in 1968. He was team captain and an All-SEC player by his senior season.

 Off the court, Harris was a mentor for other black athletes that journeyed in his footsteps; but, on the court, he suffered a knee injury during his junior season and played through the pain for the duration of his career. That injury changed the trajectory of his life. Continue reading “The Legacy of Henry Harris” →

De’Runnya “Bear” Wilson’s shooting death in January 2020 has bothered me as much as Chris Smith’s did, another former Mississippi State University wide receiver who was murdered in 2016.

In Wilson, we’re talking about a student-athlete with the following accolades:

three-time state champion in basketball at Wenonah High School in Birmingham (AL); Alabama’s 2013 Mr. Basketball; record holder for second-most touchdown receptions in a career at MSU; and a crucial member of the 2014 No. 1 ranked Bulldogs.

So for De’Runnya – who was a legend to family, friends, and the Wenonah and Starkville communities – to be killed, in the same area where he gained stardom, is disheartening.

He left MSU following his junior season to enter the NFL draft but wasn’t selected, although he did spend time on the Chicago Bears’ practice squad. Unlike their basketball counterparts, football players aren’t allowed to return to school after declaring for the NFL draft, even if they go undrafted. This rule should be changed to mirror that of basketball players; but, even if a player can’t return to school to play football, he should at least be given the chance to finish his degree – it’s not clear if Wilson was granted the opportunity to do so.

An excerpt from an AL.com article honoring De’Runnya’s life highlights an issue that many former athletes are dealing with, especially black male athletes, and that’s struggling to transition to life after sports. It stated that “Wilson, 25, struggled to find steady work since failing to make it in professional football… and he continued to work out while seeking another chance and had hoped to latch on to an XFL team this spring.”

It’s likely he was “latching on” to those professional football dreams because there was nothing else for him to grab ahold to. Continue reading “Former Student-Athletes’ Deaths Shed Light On Underlying Issue Within College Athletics” →

Last month, the WNBA’s Players Union and the league settled a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that will begin with the 2020 season and run through 2027. The biggest issue with the old agreement was that players earned less than 25 percent Basketball Related Income (BRI)

Under the new agreement, players will receive a 53 percent increase in total cash compensation, consisting of base salary, additional performance bonuses, prize pools for newly created in-season competitions, and league and team marketing deals. This means, the W’s top athletes will be able to earn cash compensation exceeding $500,000, with the maximum salary a player can earn increasing nearly $100,000.

But most importantly, if the  league achieves revenue growth targets, players can earn 50 percent BRI starting with the 2021 season. The State of the WNBA, Part 2 Continue reading “How the WNBA’s New Collective Bargaining Agreement Impacts Current and Future Players” →

The topic of whether or not college athletes should be paid has been an ongoing debate for years, and now it’s finally on the table.

In October, The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Board of Governors, which oversees college sports, voted unanimously to adjust rules that prevented players from earning money from their name, image and likeness.

The board’s decision was in response to the California governor signing the Fair Pay to Play Act. Under the new law, schools wouldn’t pay athletes but college players could hire agents to pursue sponsorship and endorsements, beginning 2023. It was a win-win for lawmakers in California because they knew the NCAA would have to respond, and that other states would follow suit, or risk losing recruits to colleges in California. In response, several other states have introduced similar proposals.

The NCAA had no choice but to make the next move. But before student athletes can start pulling in profits, the board has to consider exactly what adjustments should be made to its current policy, which restricts college athletes from monetizing their talent at all. The current system is set up like indentured servitude, where athletes sign a renewable contract and agree to play in exchange for a tuition-free education and modest stipend. Continue reading “How the NCAA Can Create an Equitable System for College Athletes to be Compensated” →

As the Players’ Association is negotiating to develop a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the focus should be on increasing the players’ slice of the league’s pie.

In an article in the Players’ Tribune, NBA player Bradley Beal wrote that all WNBA players are asking for is more Basketball Related Income (BRI), which includes broadcast rights, advertising, merchandising, and concessions.

Currently, NBA players receive 50 percent of their league’s BRI, while the women receive less than 25 percent. Fans pay their money to see the players – who are training in the offseason, practicing every day, and putting their bodies on the line, literally. The State of the WNBA, Part 1

So, the first demand of the players’ union should be that the W’s BRI be increased to 40 percent. An increase from less than 25 to 40 percent is a good start to significantly decreasing the number of players who play internationally, or year round, to supplement their income.  Continue reading “The State of the WNBA, Part 2” →

 

About a week ago, the Washington Mystics won their first ever championship in franchise history. But the celebration didn’t last long because half of the team’s players are heading overseas for international play. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of the Women’s National Basketball Association and one of the reasons why players are asking for better pay.

In February of this year, Maya Moore, the WNBA’s most prolific player, announced she would sit out for the 2019 season to focus on herself, her family and her ministry.

To fans of the game, like myself, this may have seemed like the perfect setup for a Michael Jordan-like comeback.

In her eight-year career, Moore has already won four WNBA championships, two Olympic Gold Medals, two FIBA World Championship Gold Medals, a WNBA Finals and Regular-Season MVP, Rookie of the Year and achieved a host of other records and accolades. She’s always sported the No.23, the same number Jordan wore for most of his career; but, most notably, she was the first women’s basketball player to sign an endorsement deal with Nike’s Jordan Brand in 2011 at the beginning of her rookie season. So, if anyone could take a year off from the game and come back like she never left, it would be Maya… In an ideal world.

But, in reality, the face of the W taking off a year – in her prime – isn’t good news for fans or the league, especially knowing that Maya has shifted her focus to a laborious fight like criminal justice reform.

And it’s not like Maya sitting out was a difficult decision for her to make. She walked away from a league of players who are underpaid and undervalued. Continue reading “The State of the WNBA, Part 1” →

First Recorded on February 12, 2011 by Jason Crowder

First aired on Fellowship of A Christian Athlete (FCA) Radio

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