Higgins | Dilemma of NCAA student-athletes

A s of July 11, the fate of amateurism in Division I collegiate athletics rests in the hands of one woman: U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken.

Wilken is expected to issue her ruling on the O’Bannon v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit within the month. If she rules in favor of the NCAA, collegiate athletes will maintain their status as amateurs.

If she rules in favor of the plaintiff, former UCLA basketball player and 1995 national champion Ed O’Bannon, the case will open the door for athletes in major revenue-generating sports, namely men’s basketball and football, to receive monetary compensation.

A ruling in favor of O’Bannon would allow players to profit from licensing deals with their schools, telecasters, athletic conferences and video game manufacturers for using their names, images or likenesses. The nature of such a ruling has different consequences than those of Northwestern v. National Labor Relations Board , in which the plaintiff argues that student-athletes in Division I football and men’s basketball should be treated as paid employees.

The compensation that could result from a favorable O’Bannon ruling could help defray the actual cost of attending college, which many student-athletes claim is much higher than the value of their athletic scholarship.

This disparity in cost was hotly debated last Wednesday when NCAA President Mark Emmert testified before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee chaired by Sen. Jay Rockefeller.

In statements made at the hearing, Emmert acknowledged the need to “drive much-needed reform and address many of the concerns that surround intercollegiate athletics.” In his opinion, these reforms, however, do not include revising student-athletes status as employees.

Emmert said that he disagreed with this principle on the basis that the students are primarily enrolled at their respective institutions to receive an education. He estimated that if Division I football and men’s basketball players were to receive benefits it would likely be between “$120,000 to $180,000 or more” per year.

Penn’s new Athletic Director, Grace Calhoun, agrees. “I have never been in favor of [paying collegiate athletes],” she says.

While a ruling in favor of O’Bannon would certainly be groundbreaking for Division I athletics, of which Penn is a part, not much will change for Penn student-athletes.

As a member of the Ivy League, Penn does not offer athletic scholarships. Thanks to Penn’s hefty endowment, all students, athletes included, receive the same need-blind financial aid.

“It’s a question that we don’t have to worry about here without having scholarships and with the approach we take to athletics,” said Calhoun.

In all of the hullaballoo surrounding the O’Bannon trial, the storyline of the college athlete seeing their jersey being sold for upwards of $100 in the campus bookstore while they can’t afford their next meal has become almost a cliche. If anything, this trend proves that there is a real gap between the reward given from athletic scholarships and the actual cost of attending a university.

But Penn’s bookstore does not sell a single player’s jersey, nor do any of our sports generate the same level of revenue as the nation’s marquee programs. Franklin Field and the Palestra are rarely — if ever — full on game days, the Ivy League does not have its own cable sports network, nor are the majority of the Ancient Eight’s athletic endeavors ever televised.

Quite frankly, that’s okay.

Penn is, first and foremost, an academic institution. Athletes here do not use their time playing for the red and the blue as a stepping stone to the pros. Rather, athletes come to Penn to be student -athletes.

And Calhoun is okay with this too. “My interest in getting into athletics was always from the standpoint of how it develops young men and women and offering these educationally rich experiences,” she said.

“Certainly when you look at BCS programs and the revenue sports, it’s clearly a very challenging environment right now with what’s coming in and what’s coming out and how they feel they’re caught,” said Calhoun.

“I’m happy to not have those issues.”

LAINE HIGGINS is a rising College sophomore from Wayzata, Minn., and is a staff writer of The Daily Pennsylvanian. She is also a member of the Penn varsity women’s swimming team. She can be reached at dpsports@thedp.com.

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