Browsing: Student Athletes

The NCAA has long been a controversial organization, often seen as a group solely focused on limiting the opportunities of student-athletes. However, the organization has been able to stay in the good graces of the public eye by boasting its educational results.

The Ed O’Bannon suit against the NCAA may create a means for student-athletes to receive payment in the future, and it could severely damage college athletics.
O’Bannon, on behalf of Division I football and men’s basketball players, is challenging the NCAA in a class action lawsuit because of its propensity for using images of former student-athletes for commercial purposes.

Each year, Baylor student-athletes sign a financial-aid agreement that binds them to the bylaws expressed in the NCAA Division I Manual. Recent violations regarding name, picture and likeness have moved an article of the manual into the national spotlight.

Article 12 of the NCAA Constitution expresses the rules of a player regarding amateurism. Specifically, Article 12.5.1.1 lays out the rules of commercial use of a student-athletes name, picture or likeness.

Back in February, I received an email from my roommate. In the subject box, she typed “Thought you might get a kick out of this!” In the email was a link to an article published in the Daily Illini, the University of Illinois’ equivalent to the Lariat. The column, which ran Feb. 19, was titled “Student Athletes: The Kings and Queens of Campus.”

I was intrigued.