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Anyone who came of age in Minnesota during the ’90s does not need to be reminded of it. College basketball is corrupt. If the Clem Haskins and Jan Gangelhoff scandal didn’t destroy your faith in Bobby Jackson and Gopher basketball, then John Calipari must have certainly destroyed your faith in Derrick Rose, or Kelvin Sampson in Eric Gordon, or Tim Floyd in O.J. Mayo.
Today, NCAA basketball has become such a lucrative business that these scandals are more or less inevitable. Administrators will struggle to stem the tides of greed while at the same time try to maintain and maximize the profitability of March MadnessTM and the Bowl Championship Series. Coaches will always seek to gain an edge (and a big contract), while 18-year-old boys will always be swayed by the prospect of hundreds of dollars and someone to take their tests for them.
So when the University of Wisconsin Athletic Board met last Friday to discuss reforms to men’s basketball recruitment policy, its business didn’t really surprise anyone. The WAB and Big Ten in general are concerned with addressing not only the way high schoolers are recruited, but also the way coaches deal with players’ representatives and associates.
Normally I would have paused, nodded and muttered, “Wake me up when they start talking about paying these guys,” before dozing off. But then, interestingly, the conversation turned to the role of athletes in campus diversity.
Monday’s Herald article, “Board talks men’s basketball reform” (Oct. 19), quoted two WAB members who pointed out the important contributions the athletic department makes to campus diversity. Professor Adam Gamoran pointed out the football team plays an especially large role here, accounting for almost an eighth of black students on campus.
To cite the football team as an important contributor to diversity employs the definition in the most limited sense. Yes, there are more black kids on campus because of the football team. And yes, that makes our diversity numbers look the tiniest bit more respectable. But the fact that we as a university rely so heavily on the football team to create a “diverse climate” is just pathetic.
The way I understand it, diversity efforts on campus (whether or not I agree with them) are meant to accomplish two goals. First, by actively ensuring the presence of minority groups on campus, the university seeks to educate all students about the greater world, not just the small slice of the Midwest that is Wisconsin. Second, by affording members of underprivileged groups a path to higher education, the university desires to make possible opportunities that would have otherwise been nonexistent or much more difficult to obtain.
The use of the football (or basketball) team as a diversity vehicle accomplishes neither of these goals. Division I athletes are busy people. Since they barely have time for classes, practice and sleep, how can they be expected to fully participate in the common campus experience? Because of their obligations, these athletes have a very difficult time exposing the rest of campus to their ethnic heritage. For athletes who have to attend class, watch film, practice and lift all in the same day, there is little time to write an almanac article for the enemy paper or attend a Student Council meeting.
The university falls short on the second count as well. Our revenue athletes don’t always receive the best education the university has to offer. For every Shane Carter (who graduated with a degree in sociology and is now taking graduate school classes in education), there are players who don’t graduate at all. Even though we’re better than Texas’ 50 percent, Wisconsin athletes still ranked below the BCS average with a graduation rate of 63 percent in 2008.
So since revenue athletes aren’t full participants in the campus climate and aren’t all getting a top-notch education, should they count toward our diversity numbers at all?
If the administration is serious about fostering campus diversity (as ambiguous as that is), it needs to move beyond schemes to get students to the university via admissions or athletics. It has been a year since Plan 2008 expired, and we still don’t have a Plan 2018 (though there is “Inclusive Excellence”). Maybe it’s time to sit down and reevaluate our diversity goals and how we expect to accomplish them. Or maybe it’s time to let the Irish-, African-, Polish-, German-, Korean- and Coastie-Americans figure out how to get along with each other — whether they are athletes or not.
Joe Labuz ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in biomedical engineering.
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accept students based on their numbers and activities, not skin color. it’s not fair to qualified white students.
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To be fair, it’s not only minority students taking your place. There are thousands of other, more qualified students that got in before you too.
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Zing!
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Basically, what this amounts to is the WAB pitching false and ridiculous PR at students and student newspapers all in the name of looking good to the students who read the Badger Herald. So, you’re right on calling them out on their shit. What you couldn’t do, as a Staff Writer, is call out the Badger Herald news team for accepting bullshit PR quotes from the WAB and not ever doing the job of true investigatory news: holding those at the pinnacle of power responsible for the bullshit they feed us. The BH news team has very little investigatory spirit and as a result, it is always the responsibility of the Opinion team to call people out on their shit. It shouldn’t be that way. The Herald news team is a huge disappointment.
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Choosing students on the basis of their athletic prowess usually has led to a surplus of black athletes. While they may benefit in a way from the opportunity to represent their schools on the court and on the playing field, they tend to accomplish less in the classroom. If they are academically qualified for college-level coursework and therefore are eligible for admission, why do we abandon them long before Graduation Day? All students, black, white, red, yellow, or brown should all enjoy the same access to education. Athletic talent is but only one key to advancement. Education is the road one must travel to get there. By taking in African-American students and putting them in team uniforms, then neglecting their academic performance, we leave them with no solid foundation from which to build a fulfilling life. It’s depressing enough that qualified white students are turned away to meet racial quotas; it is equally bad that black students are accepted only for a particular talent they naturally possess, yet exploited for the sake of admiration for the educational institution that afforded them only a pipe dream.
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I’ll be the first to admit I don’t have statistics on this. But my guess is that it’s not only black athletes who “tend to accomplish less in the classroom.”
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Or maybe they could just count 3/5 towards our diversity numbers.
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While what you are saying may sound intelligent, it easily falls apart under the slightest bit of scrutiny. You say that one ability (athletics) should not be enough to get it, and we should hand hold athletes, no matter the skin color, because of this. The majority of people were accepted to this college because of “one thing”, that being academic ability. So we all should get a athletic education as well? Hell, if I could go to college free based solely on my athletic ability I would do it in a heartbeat. Stop sticking up for people who need no hand-holding.
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If athletic scholarships for college and exorbitant pay in the pros was beneficial to low income groups, then why are there still ghettos filled with minorities? It’s time for a pay cut, jocks.
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I agree, and I think it’s completely embarrassing that 1 in 8 black students come here for football and not academics. Sure, it’s good to have diversity and there is nothing wrong with having lots of black people on the football team, but let’s please not brag about how many got into this school for their brawn and not their brain. Yes, some athletes do very well academically, but unfortunately this is often the exception and not the rule.
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Bloodmoney.
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Anonymous | October 21, 2009 6:50 AM | Reply
If athletic scholarships for college and exorbitant pay in the pros was beneficial to low income groups, then why are there still ghettos filled with minorities? It�s time for a pay cut, jocks.
Second, I highly doubt your noble self would take a pay cut if you were drafted in any sport. Put it this way, if you were very good at your job - maybe even the best - you would want to be paid similarly to people of your caliber. If you were better than your co-worker, but he maid more than you, you would not be happy. It’s not athletes fault that their pay is in the millions, but it is understandable that they want to be paid what they are worth.
As far as diversity - admissions should be based on academic performance and credentials. Not skin color. It’s just that simple.
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Would I take a pay cut if everyone else made more? No.
Would I take a pay cut if everyone took a pay cut? Yes.
Do pro-athletes deserve to earn more than a brain surgeon, Army General, or airline pilot? Keep in mind that college athletes do not get paid, but still perform and still command a sizeable television audience.
Is it right that an NFL ticket starts at $60 + parking + drinks + nachos? $25 seems more reasonable, especially if you can’t totally dominate the Vikings!
What’s the Yankee’s roster earn per year? $208,097,414 (2009)! Really, that’s the best way to spend money, on A-rod ($33M) and Nick Swisher ($5.4M, who?).
C’mon, these guys aren’t gods, so lets start treating them more reasonably. $1 Million caps for all pro-athletes (additional money from sponsorship is allowed).
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“C�mon, these guys aren�t gods, so lets start treating them more reasonably. $1 Million caps for all pro-athletes (additional money from sponsorship is allowed)”
You fail to realize that the teams make a lot of money off of these athletes. Failing to pay them their share would be extremely unfair. Who cares if they make more than they “should?” The money they make is definitely in line with the money they bring in.
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What you fail to realize is that the money they “bring in” is directly tied to advertisement. You aren’t watching sports on Sunday afternoon, you’re watching commercial after commercial, endorsement after endorsement. How many Nike swooshes are in every camera shot, how many Ford’s does that dancing robot sell? There’s a game being played, not on the field, but between your mind and your wallet.
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College athletes do not get paid…ha. $1 mopeds? Please. The Ivies have shit teams…seriously, but you don’t see their school’s academic prestige suffering. I wish I had someone waiting for me outside all my lecture halls checking to make sure I was in class.
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this is bullshit!! Stop bringing Eric Gordon’s name in some damn bull shit. There are legal implications for your stupid ass making false claims on Gordon’s name. Mayo got Paid, Rose confirmed cheated on test and grade. What the FUCK did Eric Gordon do???? Change his verbal commitment from Illinois to Indiana. You stupid MORON!!! Nothing Sampson did concerning getting first has not a damn thing to do with Eric Gordon.
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why would you cap salaries? if the open market determines that this is their value, so be it.
but in all seriousness, you know theres minorities, black/hispanic/especially american indians who get in here with poorer grades/numbers/less activities than white students who may get wait listed or rejected. that’s bs. remove the box on the application with race. honestly, what does having diversity here accomplish in skin color?
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Boycott professional sports! Let’s start today.
I’ll watch beer-bellied slobs play football on Sunday afternoon instead. Let’s start neighborhood leagues and keep it real. The pro leagues can’t hold us hostage any longer. The revolution will not be televised.
Too lazy, too scared?
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Diversity is nonsense on stilts. Judge people by their character not their ethnic group.
There’s no value in having equal numbers of skin color, sex or any other meaningless attribute on the basketball court or in the classroom.
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I like how everyone points out skin color but forgets that many more college applicants get in because there parents are alumni and pay the university thousands of dollars.
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Few Things: “$1 Million caps for all pro-athletes (additional money from sponsorship is allowed)” —- WOW. Sorry Pal but this is America and we live in a capitalist society. If you want to have someone decide how much you can make, go live in Communist China.
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Only Racists Consider Race. Students’ skin color should not be a qualification for determining entry to a school
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you are a joke.
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To anyone arguing that the athletics at this university bring in millions of dollars to benefit our academics… check again. Sports money doesn’t mix with academic money. Just ask any of the students working for the UW foundation, who repeatedly tell alumni that their athletic donations aren’t doing shit to fund academics.