The NCAA Tournament kicks off on Thursday evening when the First Four games tip off, followed by the usual March Madness craziness we have come to expect during this time of year over the next four days. Before things tip off, though, a number of college athletes, many of whom will participate in the upcoming bubble-type environment in Indiana, decided to speak out about the way the NCAA operates.
At the forefront of the discourse was standout Rutgers guard Geo Baker, who got this ball rolling on Tuesday in an interaction with Jon Rothstein of CBS and in a follow-up tweet. One day later and he created a hashtag, #NotNCAAProperty, to excoriate the organization for how it keeps a vice grip on players being able to profit off of their likeness.
The NCAA OWNS my name image and likeness. Someone on music scholarship can profit from an album. Someone on academic scholarship can have a tutor service. For ppl who say “an athletic scholarship is enough.” Anything less than equal rights is never enough. I am #NotNCAAProperty
— Geo Baker (@Geo_Baker_1) March 17, 2021
Baker ended up boosting messages from a number of other college basketball players, while plenty of current and former collegiate athletes hopped on board with this message.
It’s been far too long. Time for our voices to be heard. #NotNCAAProperty
— Jordan Bohannon (@JordanBo_3) March 17, 2021
The NCAA has used the word amateurism to remain one of the most exploitative industries in the entire country. #NotNCAAProperty
— Seth Towns (@219setty) March 17, 2021
OUR VOICES WILL BE HEARD. #NotNCAAProperty
— Darryl Morsell (@410D_) March 17, 2021
shoutout to @JordanBo_3 & @Geo_Baker_1 for bringing everyone together for a big purpose! It’s bigger than us, we are also looking out for the younger generations after us! #NotNCAAProperty
— McKinley Wright IV (@kin_wright25) March 17, 2021
I should have the right to my own name image and likeness. It’s not rocket science, and I should know I’ve taken it. #NotNCAAProperty
— Myles Johnson (@MylestheMonster) March 17, 2021
Don’t have to be an engineer to know there needs to be change. #NotNCAAProperty
— Myles Johnson (@MylestheMonster) March 17, 2021
Name, Image, & Likness are #NotNCAAProperty https://t.co/k6NEUA3odM
— Ryan Kriener (@B1Gcat15) March 17, 2021
Enough is enough.
Time for our voices to be heard. #NotNCAAProperty— Dexter Dennis (@ldl_dex) March 17, 2021
We are #NotNCAAProperty
— Breezy (@cpemsl35) March 17, 2021
HEAR US!! We deserve the rights to OUR names. #NotNCAAProperty
— Ron Harper Jr. (@__RHJR) March 17, 2021
I went to college on an academic scholarship
WashU still paid me to run student programming that was deemed vital to the student experience, school culture, and recruiting.
Athletes should be paid too.
Hell they should be paid more because they bring in money https://t.co/jdUSIUNP4q
— Hamilton Cook (@hamiltoncook) March 17, 2021
I find it CRAZY how people who make billions of dollars off of US athletes can tell us whether or not we should get paid for who WE are. Who are you to tell me how and when to make money? But you can make money off of US???? Come on now, that’s just not right
#NotNCAAProperty
— Jordan “Jelly” Walker (@jellyfam_j) March 17, 2021
I had to quit D3 college soccer because my best friend and I got paid $150 each to make this video for Puma and in the eyes of the NCAA that made me a professional athlete. #NotNCAAProperty pic.twitter.com/xyvqlqVlGD
— Mitchell (@mitchgoulet) March 17, 2021
A pair of ESPN college basketball personalities, Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas, endorsed the message from these athletes — the former tweeted out a story about the hashtag, while Bilas created a video trying to address one of the misconceptions around compensating athletes.
The players WILL & should be HEARD / they r sending a LOUD Message – I AGREE with them . Players launch #NotNCAAProperty movement a day before March Madness begins https://t.co/0nIFkohC20
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) March 17, 2021
There’s just not enough money. pic.twitter.com/UeVApdG4xH
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) March 17, 2021
Earlier this year, a bill introduced by Sen. Chris Murphy and Rep. Lori Trahan sought to remove any restrictions on name, image, and likeness that the NCAA could put on a college athlete. In a statement to ESPN, Trahan, a former college athlete during her time as a volleyball player at Georgetown, said, “I’m all too familiar with the NCAA’s business model that for decades has utilized the guise of amateurism to justify obscene profitability while student athletes have struggled to get by.”