opinion
How to Solve the NCAA’s ugly Ethics Problem
T
he NCAA enforcement
problem
has
festered
beneath the surface for
decades, and been allowed to
grow into a multi-institutional
monster. I think its problems are
too complex for a single simple
solution. There are root causes we
still don’t dig down and deal with.
Some societal, some economic,
some just plain greed or igno-
rance. Nor can all the issues be
adequately treated in a single post.
But there are some issues that
seem obvious to me that no one
seems to what to address. I have a
few suggestions or considerations.
One seeks to inspire players to do
the right thing. The other is more
drastic, borrowing from criminol-
ogy and technology. That’s for
those who still don’t get it. But I’ll
save that for another post.
First, we need an enhanced way
of inspiring the at-risk teenagers to
do the right thing. The reason is
because the university setting is
not supposed to act like the crimi-
nal justice system. We must admit
that we are asking for voluntary
compliance by players to comply
with NCAA rules. The problem
with getting at-risk star players to
conform to NCAA rules doesn’t
start with college. Grown-ups
identify and coddle those with
superior athletic ability at or
T he S chool oF l aW
Roger M. Groves
before puberty. Then the adoring
community that loves to see their
schools win, including some
teachers, sends the subtle but con-
sistent message that for these
youngsters, the normal rules do
not apply. It should not then sur-
prise us that some of these mixed-
messaged 10-12 year olds become
teenagers who are high risks for
rules violations. And then there is
often family dysfunction where
too often the absent or incarcerat-
ed father is replaced by AAU
coaches or other sports pimps of
sorts. The player becomes more a
commodity than the loved one.
Yet the essence of fatherhood is
irreplaceable. The loving daily
presence gives a special standing
and entre’ to the kid’s heart and
mind. The father can then pene-
trate the athletic aura and say, “Oh
no. You won’t do that!” Magic
Johnson has plenty of stories
about how his father made sure
certain behaviors were put in
check despite his tremendous
fame in high school. He was
blessed with that loving connec-
tion and correction as part of daily
living. Many blessed with great
talent are not so blessed with the
simple parental influences that
many of us take for granted or
have forgotten.
We should remember too that
there are plenty of studies about
the disparity –in rules and
resources - between the urban
public schools in large urban areas
and the schools most college stu-
dents come from. The vast majori-
ty of African Americans in public
schools are from a dozen urban
under-resourced schools with
the players, we have little chance
of knowing what buttons to push
to create changed behavior among
those likely to commit NCAA
infractions through their own
choice. The separate and next
issue is what to do about it. One
part of the solution is for qualita-
tive family circumstances early in
life. But the past links us to the
present and that tragically will
take far longer to fix.
So we need to start with inspir-
ing teenagers to transform a past
Set up a mentorship
program featuring pro athletes
who played by rules
challenges very different from the
suburban high per-capita cost per
student schools. All those factors
among others bring tremendous
adjustment issues once these play-
ers go to college. And college
itself is the first sniff of almost
complete freedom that has snared
more than just athletes.
I am not making excuses for bad
behavior, just reasons why it
exists. If we don’t understand the
problem, we are less likely to find
a solution. And unless we under-
stand what motivates and inspires
“rules don’t apply to me” mentali-
ty to the new and very daunting set
of rules found in the near-IRS
Code level NCAA rule book.
Some of us with little appreciation
for this transformational issue act
shocked as to why such players
don’t instantly transform them-
selves. But for the star teenagers
most at-risk, the motivational
threat of “I better not go to the bar
because of NCAA Rule 1.2 or
whatever...” is not working.
I think such a player is more
likely influenced by the pro play-
ers he already dreams to be like –
players that are already in his con-
sciousness and subconscious
recesses of his mind. And last I
checked it is still the mind that
controls the decision of whether to
go to the strip club after curfew.
Several centuries before there
was an NCAA or its rules defining
players as amateurs there was a
respected Chinese philosopher
named Lao Tzu that said, “To lead
people, walk beside them.” The
sports translation in my view is,
“To lead players away from
NCAA violations, enlist the help
of those who have walked in their
shoes.”
Currently, coaches bring in idol-
ized pro players for pep talks to
inspire their kids just before big
games. That’s a good thing. But
the occasional occurrence still
squanders a bigger opportunity to
inspire the wide-eyed teenagers to
have behavioral excellence off the
field as well. These pro players
have already walked in their
cleats. They speak a language with
the college players I cannot fully
comprehend.
roger M. groves is Professor of
law at the Florida Coastal School
of law
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