Name, image and likeness can save college basketball from losing top stars to G League

The NCAA is finally allowing players to profit from their success. Too little, too late?

Allowing college athletes to be paid for the use of their name, image and likeness is the best solution to the problem of them being underpaid. Yes, underpaid. I will stipulate that education and all of the contacts given to D1 athletes is worth something, just not worth what they’re producing for their schools.

According to Forbes, here are the top three apparel deals in college sports.

3. Texas

The Longhorns’ deal with Nike runs from 2017-2031. The contract is worth $9.76 million annually with $7.5 million in cash.

2.  Louisville

The Cardinals’ deal with Adidas runs from 2018-2028 and is worth $10.66 million annually with $7.6 million in cash.

1. UCLA

The Bruins’ deal with Under Armour runs from 2017-2032 and is worth $12.76 million annually with $9 million in cash.

That scholarship doesn’t seem like enough when you see what the top college basketball coaches are being paid annually.

3. UCLA’s Mick Cronin

$5.5 million

2. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski

$7.26 million

1. Kentucky’s John Calipari

$8 million

So, I’ve made it clear that I favor college athletes being paid more than a scholarship. And I said that paying them for use of their name, image and likeness is the best solution to this issue. Now that we’re caught up, let’s discuss why.

Having the school pay them would be a nightmare to administer. Which athletes get paid? How do you determine how much they get paid? Are they now employees and subject to payroll requirements?

Name, image and likeness compensation could keep top recruits from going to the G League and preserve college basketball from losing star attractions

By allowing them to be paid for name, image and likeness, the system will determine who gets paid and how much. Free enterprise and capitalism. If the car dealer wants to pay the star point guard to come sign autographs, so be it. I don’t think said car dealer is requesting the third shooting guard for a session. No offense to third-team shooting guards.

Yes, I see your hands raised and know the question. Brian, won’t this lead to boosters just handing over six-figure checks to players?

Free enterprise and capitalism.

I asked in the title of this piece if paying players for name, image and likeness will save college basketball. Let’s go back to the mid-’80s for context. John Reaves, the University of Rochester (NY)  athletic director, suggested that D1 schools should make sports a major. He said that sports are an important part of our society and a profession. Why shouldn’t they study to have something to fall back on if they don’t make it as professional players? I had the chance to interview then-Northwestern football Dennis Green and asked him his opinion on Reaves’ idea. He said it would never work, that the courses and degrees would be a joke. His suggestion was to force the NFL and NBA to have viable minor leagues as an option for a great high school player. Just like baseball and hockey.

Fast forward and we’re starting to see that now for basketball players with the G League. The G League now pays top high school players up to $500,000 to join with some veteran players and play exhibitions against G League teams, foreign national teams and NBA academies around the world.

In 2018, top-20 recruit Darius Bazley committed to Syracuse and then decided to play in the G League for a year instead. He quickly realized he wasn’t ready for the G League and his agent earned agent of the year honors by getting Bazley a three-month internship with New Balance for $1 million as he prepared for the 2019 NBA draft.

In 2020, five top-50 recruits followed Bazley, led by top-five recruits Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga. In 2021 with payment for name, image and likeness here,  only two top-50 recruits are skipping college. Jaden Hardy and Michael Foster announced that they will join the G League instead of going to college this fall.

Has it worked out for these players who skip college and go to the G League? There’s no question that even one year in college can help these kids become brands. Zion Williamson doesn’t get the exposure in the G League that he got at Duke. That being said, is it working on the court?

Bazley did get drafted in the first round of the 2019 draft. He just finished his second season with the Oklahoma City Thunder and saw good improvement. Minutes rose from 18.5 to 31.2/game. Points up from 5.6 to 13.7/game. Rebounds up from 4.0 to 7.2/game and assists from 0.7 to 1.8/game.

Green and Kuminga are both projected to go in the top five picks of the upcoming NBA draft after their one G League season. Of the other three top-50 recruits from 2020 who skipped college, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix are projected to be taken in the second round. Josh Hall is not projected to be drafted.

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