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sports Diahuebs 24 Maart 2022

Top colleges accused of violating Black athletes’ rights

(AP) - A group that advocates for The NCAA Division I men’s basket-
college athletes has filed a federal ball tournament generates more than
complaint that claims NCAA Divi- $800 million in revenue for the associa-
sion I schools are violating the civil tion, most of which is distributed to 358
rights of Black basketball players schools that compete at that level.
and major college football players by
prohibiting compensation. The College Football Playoff, which op-
erates outside the NCAA, is worth more
The National College Players Associa- than $470 million annually to the 10
tion announced Tuesday it had submit- conferences that run it, with the majority
ted a complaint to the Office for Civil of that money going to the Power Five —
Rights in the Education Department. the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-
The NCPA says NCAA rules prohibit- 12 and Southeastern conferences.
ing schools from compensating athletes
disproportionately impacts Black stu- The NCPA claims that relative to the rev-
dents. enue generated by their sports, Division I
football players and men’s and women’s
“I believe it’s important to first acknowl- basketball players have been denied tens
edge the reality of the business that of thousands of dollars in compensation
is college football,” Stanford football annually. The group has also pushed for
player Elijah Higgins said in a statement college athletes to receive employee sta-
through the NCPA. tus, a step university officials largely op-
pose.
Citing a 2018 study by the University of
Southern California’s Race and Equity The complaint also cites Supreme Court
Center, the complaint said “Black men Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurring
were 2.4% of undergraduate students en- opinion in last year’s Alston case, in
rolled at the 65 (Power Five conference) which the high court ruled unanimously
universities, but comprised 55% of foot- to uphold a lower court’s decision that
ball teams and 56% of men’s basketball found the NCAA in violation of antitrust
teams on those campuses.” law.

“This multibillion college sports enter- The court said the NCAA and college
prise imposes discriminatory practices conferences could not cap benefits re-
that disproportionately harms Black ath- lated to education that schools can offer
letes, while predominantly white coach- to athletes.
es and administrators make millions of
dollars,” said NCPA Executive Director “Nowhere else in America can business-
Ramogi Huma, a former UCLA foot- es get away with agreeing not to pay their
ball player. “College athletes throughout workers a fair market rate on the theory
predominantly white sports receive fair that their product is defined by not pay-
market compensation, but athletes in the ing their workers a fair market rate,” Ka-
only predominantly Black sports do not.” vanaugh wrote.

SMU coach Tim Jankovich announces retirement

(AP) — SMU coach Tim ing career that included State from 2008-12, before the 2016-17 season, when of 282-185 as a head coach.
Jankovich announced his stints as an assistant for he left the Redbirds to join the Mustangs went 30-5 and He was 53-57 in his first head
retirement Tuesday after Larry Brown and Bill Self. SMU’s staff when Brown made their last NCAA Tour- coaching job at North Texas
six seasons as head coach took the job there. Jankov- nament appearance. from 1993-97, was 104-64 at
of the Mustangs, and near- The 62-year-old Jankovich ich succeeded the Hall of Illinois State and 125-64 at
ly four decades in a coach- was head coach at Illinois Famer as head coach before SMU was 24-9 this season, SMU. Among his stops as an
which ended Sunday in the assistant were at Kansas and
second round of the NIT Illinois with Self, along with
with a 75-63 loss to Wash- time at Texas, Baylor, Okla-
ington State that was its only homa State, Kansas State and
home defeat this season. Vanderbilt.
That came a week after be-
ing left out of the 68-team Jankovich said it was time
NCAA Tournament field, to step back after basketball
and Jankovich said his team had been the center of his
was still “wounded” and dis- life since he was in the eighth
appointed from that snub. grade. He said he cherished
every minute of it.
The Mustangs finished sec-
ond in the American Athletic “I find myself at a stage in
Conference regular-season life where I no longer can in
standings behind Sweet 16 good conscience make the
team Houston, which they necessary sacrifices that this
beat once. They also beat position demands,” Jankov-
NCAA tourney team Mem- ich said. “I feel a strong pull
phis twice in the regular sea- to spend more time with the
son before losing to the Ti- people whom I have unfor-
gers in the AAC Tournament tunately neglected the most
semifinals. over the years — my dad, my
family and my friends.”
Jankovich has a career record