Michigan basketball star Isaiah Livers is out indefinitely with a foot injury he suffered during the Big Ten Tournament last weekend, but the senior forward made the most of being stuck on the sidelines.
For the men’s NCAA tournament opening-round game between No. 1 seed Michigan and No. 16 seed Texas Southern on Saturday, Livers wore a black shirt with #NotNCAAProperty written on it, drawing attention to the recent player-led movement calling out the NCAA’s hypocrisy.
The movement — led by Livers, Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon and Rutgers’ Geo Baker — exploded on Twitter this week with players demanding their voices be heard because the the NCAA prioritizes profits over the needs and best interests of the players. Especially during March Madness, those players make hundreds of millions of dollars for the NCAA, which prevents them from capitalizing off their name, image and likeness, and they’ve had enough.
Isaiah Livers showed up to Michigan's tournament game wearing a "Not NCAA Property" shirt. pic.twitter.com/hv7R5Z8mtm
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 20, 2021
Additionally, the National College Players Association released a statement Wednesday with demands from players representing more than 15 NCAA tournament teams. They include allowing players to seek representation and profit off their name, image and likeness and setting up meetings with NCAA president Mark Emmert, along with lawmakers to pass legislation protecting players.
Explaining the purpose behind the hashtag, the NCPA said in its statement:
The players and the NCPA are using the hashtag #NotNCAAProperty to underscore their concern that the NCAA too often treats college athletes like dollar signs rather than people. College basketball players from multiple teams protesting NCAA rules during the NCAA’s own March Madness Tournament is unprecedented and comes at a time when lawmakers and the US Supreme Court will be making decisions that will affect the freedoms and rights of generations of future athletes.
It’s time we student-athletes deserve the chance to create our own money from name, image, and likeness. We are calling for:👇🏽👇🏽#NotNCAAProperty pic.twitter.com/ZIixWgVqMH
— Isaiah (@isaiah__02) March 18, 2021
Livers pledged that players are “going to use our voices, our actions” to further their push for fairness from the NCAA. More via The New York Times:
“We’re doing this for future athletes, we’re doing this for our future kids,” said Livers, a senior, who added that it was “time for student-athletes to speak up, no more being silenced.”
It’s unclear exactly what else the players have in the works to draw attention to the #NotNCAAProperty movement, but Livers told The Times that “there’s definitely plans ahead.”
The Associated Press reported Monday that Emmert said he hopes the NCAA will have national name, image and likeness rules established prior to the start of the 2021 football season.
Without Livers, the Wolverines still won their opening-round game Saturday, 82-66, against Texas Southern and will face No. 8 seed LSU on Monday.
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