Tag: #NotNCAAProperty

NCAA president Mark Emmert will meet with college basketball players behind #NotNCAAProperty — after men’s tournament

The use of the hashtag expanded to encompass the clear disparity between amenities provided at the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished in its entirety below. 

NCAA president Mark Emmert said he will meet with the college basketball players behind the hashtag #NotNCAAProperty but not until after the end of the men’s tournament.

The athletes responsible for first posting and sharing the hashtag on social media requested a meeting with Emmert this week to discuss issues related to the online protest, including the inequitable facilities for use at the men’s and women’s tournaments and the NCAA’s stance on name, image and likeness.

The request for a Zoom meeting Tuesday at 8 a.m. ET came in a letter sent to Emmert by the National College Players Association, an independent organization, which was shared with USA TODAY Sports.

“They want to discuss the NCAA’s prohibition on college athlete compensation for use of their name, image, and likeness as well as the unacceptable discriminatory treatment of female athletes in the NCAA March Madness Tournament and throughout NCAA member institutions,” wrote Ramogi Huma, the executive director of the NCPA.

On Tuesday, Huma released a letter saying the NCPA was “disappointed” in Emmert’s decision to table any meetings until after the men’s and women’s tournaments.

“From our perspective, it is difficult to imagine any higher priority you may have at this time than addressing concerns that are at the core of state and federal college athletes’ rights legislation,” Huma wrote. “Can you please explain what you will be doing over the next two weeks that is more important than addressing these matters?”

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The hashtag exploded on Twitter and other social-media platforms last week, with student-athletes across several men’s and women’s sports pushing for alterations to the current NCAA rules prohibiting athletes from earning endorsement money in exchange for the use of their name, image or likeness.

Initial tweets from several Big Ten standouts, including Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon and Michigan’s Isaiah Livers, were soon echoed by players representing more than a dozen teams in the tournament field.

The use of the hashtag expanded to encompass the clear disparity between the training facilities, food quality and even the welcoming gifts provided to athletes at the men’s and women’s tournaments.

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Most notably, players at the women’s tournament posted pictures and videos comparing the bare-bones weight room provided for each team for the early rounds to the expansive area provided for the men’s teams.

Amid the hashtag-driven outcry and resulting media coverage, a new weight room and training area was provided for women’s teams in the first and second rounds of the tournament.

“I’m really supportive of what they’re asking for and what makes sense. I get it,” Emmert said during a meeting last week with reporters from USA TODAY Sports, The Athletic and The New York Times. “I’m certainly not unhappy students are using their voice to describe what they think are issues of importance to them. That’s a good thing. They’re students. They’re supposed to do that.”

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Injured Michigan star Isaiah Livers wore #NotNCAAProperty at Wolverines’ tournament opener

Michigan star Isaiah Livers is one of the leaders of the #NotNCAAProperty movement.

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.

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.

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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