The NCAA News - Comment

May 27, 1996

• Guest editorial -- Good work of athletes is too often forgotten ...By Derrick Gragg, University of Missouri, Columbia
• Comment -- Turning pro early: Problem or panacea?
• Opinions -- Take it from one who knows; Gambling problem is real

Guest editorial -- Good work of athletes is too often forgotten

BY DERRICK GRAGG
University of Missouri, Columbia

I just finished reading an article entitled "50 Most Influential People in College Sports '96."

Many of us involved in intercollegiate athletics pay close attention to articles like this one, which lists 50 people or entities who arguably have the greatest impact on college sports.

It is no surprise that Nike is in the No. 1 spot on the list. Others include NCAA national office representatives, conference commissioners, athletics directors, television executives, coaches and leaders of organizations closely associated with intercollegiate athletics.

After reading the article, the first thing I thought was, "One day, I'm going to be on this list." The article helped me to realize the things I must do in this profession to be part of such a prestigious roster. Although the members of the list are impressive, one group that deserves credit as a whole for its role in intercollegiate athletics is missing: student-athletes. Some people in our profession seem to have forgotten about this important group. The high salaries and the praise of the fans have gone to the heads of many of us. Some in this profession believe that they have risen to certain positions without any help -- especially from student-athletes.

I have been working in intercollegiate athletics seven years. I worked four years (summers included) as a football student-athlete. I have spent the past three years working in intercollegiate sports administration.

Those of you who are former student-athletes know why I said I "worked" four years as a student-athlete. Since this is a business, college sports is much more than what is seen during the pageantry of the men's and women's basketball tournaments or on those Saturday afternoons when the football teams come running out of the dressing room ready to take on the world.

College sports consists of much more than winning the championship. For student-athletes, college athletics is a job. Student-athletes work year-round studying, practicing, competing, traveling and lifting weights. They have little free time and much responsibility. An extreme amount of pressure is placed upon the 17- to 22-year-olds we call student-athletes. They should be commended for their hard work and success on and off the field.

We cannot just sing the praises of the individuals at our own institutions; we must also appreciate what other student-athletes around the country are doing. No matter what school the student-athletes attend or what division the school is in, student-athletes should be commended.

Of course, not all student-athletes are the model people want them to be. However, for every student-athlete who strays, 10 more exist of whom we can be proud.

Without student-athletes, names such as Eddie Robinson, Pat Summit, John Thompson, John Wooden and Lou Holtz would not be so recognizable. Neither would Nike, Reebok and Converse.

Oftentimes, we get caught up in what our titles are, how many games or championships we have won or how much money we are making. As administrators and coaches, we must realize that the titles we carry, the games we have won and the money we are making would not exist without the student-athletes.

I just want to thank student-athletes all over this country for what they do year after year. Thanks for all the touchdowns, the jump shots, the aces, the pitches, the wins, the records, the long jumps and the shutouts.

Thanks for the community service, recruiting prospective student-athletes, for graduating with honors or just graduating.

Thanks for the smiles, the laughter and even the tears that show how much all this means to them.

I urge student-athletes to take advantage of their current situation because it will soon be over. After they have graduated and their lives have fallen into place, I hope they will remember the people like us who helped them succeed.

They can rest assured that they will not be forgotten after I make that list of the 50 most influential people in college sports.

Derrick Gragg is a former Vanderbilt University student-athlete. He currently serves as director of compliance and operations at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Comment -- Turning pro early: Problem or panacea?

John Feinstein, commentator

"There's no question that college has some value. But let's not make the mistake of thinking that this is all about kids denying themselves an education. These guys are going to be basketball players. It's no different than if I, as a sophomore in college, had been approached by The Washington Post or The New York Times and they said, 'We think you're the next Red Smith or Frank Deford and we want to hire you today and pay you $100,000 a year.' What do you think the chances are that I would have been back meeting my math and science requirements in my junior year if I'd been made that offer?"

Pete Newell, NBA scout

"I have a concern for the college game. This whole process...now looks like it's kind of out of control. I wouldn't be surprised next year if 50 or 70 names don't show up (declaring early for the NBA draft). Some for a lark, some because they have a slim chance, some because it's the thing to do, some through necessity."

Jerry West, executive vice-president
Los Angeles Lakers

"There's going to be some tragic things coming out of this, don't kid yourself. They've all got buddies, agents running around telling them how great they are. I hope those people will be around when things are not so good....

"I don't know how you change the rules now. You're talking about legal issues, not talking about moral issues or doing the right thing.

"And you also have to know that we all have to do what's best for our teams. If there's some young kid out there, someone feels he is going to be real good, why shouldn't they draft him? It's a double-edged sword, that's for sure.

"There's a built-in excuse for me if they don't play well -- just a learning process, just wait a year or two. And frankly, you get tired of hearing that. Sooner or later, players have to be held accountable....It's just really frustrating."

Jerry Tarkanian, basketball coach
California State University, Fresno

"I don't see that as a problem. I think what you'll see now is not one dominant team anymore, because the really great kids are going to jump to the pros in one or two years. You almost have to assume that now.

"I still think that the thing that makes the college game isn't the players, it's the pageantry around the game, the excitement and emotion college kids play with. I don't think the college game is based on somebody making spectacular shots. That's what the NBA is about."

Glenn Dickey, columnist

"It seems to me that the NBA should adopt baseball's rule toward undergraduate players, in effect for more than 20 years.

"Once a baseball player starts college, he must play for three years before being eligible for the baseball draft. There are exceptions. If a player flunks out of school or if he leaves voluntarily and is out for at least 120 days, he can petition for the draft -- but in those cases, he probably doesn't belong in school, anyway.

"The problem that college basketball programs face because players leave early is obvious, but the early departures are rapidly becoming a problem for the NBA because the league is depleting its talent pool.

"Because the NBA has taken so many good players early, the junior and senior classes are short of talent -- which means the NBA takes even more sophomores and even freshmen.

"Pretty soon, there's going to be nothing left to draft but freshmen and sophomores. If you think the quality of NBA play is bad now -- and it is -- wait until then."

Richard Reeves, columnist

"I would give up this column in a minute if someone offered me a few million dollars to play in the NBA. So I am not surprised or shocked that talented young men like Allen Iverson of Georgetown or Marcus Camby of Massachusetts are dropping out of college to take the money and run.

"In fact, I think that most kids like them would have to be insane to turn down a chance to earn big-time right now in the pros. The same is true for the high-school athletes who are athletically grown up enough to be offered mega-money to do their thing. Dr. Johnson once said that any man who writes for reasons other than money is a blockhead. The same and more should be said for basketball or other spectator sports at the highest skill levels -- because an athlete has only a few years at the top of his form and risks career-ending injuries playing for free for their good old alma mater.

"A friend mentioned to me a year or so ago that the University of North Carolina, like many institutions of higher education, compiles earnings data on each of its classes 10 years after graduation. What major, he asked, did I think earned the most this time?

"I tried premed or business, the obvious answers.

" 'No,' he said. 'Sociology.'

" 'That's not possible,' I said.

" 'Yes, it is,' he answered. 'Michael Jordan's degree is in sociology.'

"There is, no doubt, more to life than games. Or money. But there is also more to life than university degrees. College can be great for many reasons, beginning with the fact that a student can learn to learn, which is among the most valuable of human gifts. Or he may learn intellectual discipline. Or she may learn how to succeed or lead. Or one may even learn skills or acquire information that can lead to a fulfilling vocation or avocation. You may be able to repay the sacrifice of your parents or meet the friends who will stand by you for life.

"But all those things are true for the athletes who quit school to jump-start or jump-shoot the rest of their lives....

"Professional athletics as education is not good for everyone, but neither is four years of college, or the romantic notion that all college graduates these days are educated men and women. If more and more of higher education is really fancied-up job training, then why shouldn't a student leave when he is ready and able to take one of the highest-paid jobs in the world?

"An athlete can always go back to college to study and learn instead of just playing ball. The best and best-paid running back in the National Football League, Emmitt Smith, who left the University of Florida before graduation six years ago to play for the Dallas Cowboys, finally got his bachelor's degree last week.

"Good for him. He promised his mother he would do that, and he kept the promise. But, actually, he did not need that sheepskin. He already has a contract with Nike, and the shoe company took out newspaper ads to congratulate one of their best television salesmen for his latest achievement. And what if he had stayed in school and got hurt or otherwise slowed down? In that case, Nike wouldn't know him from any other Smith.

"He did the sensible thing in 1990, and so did Iverson and Camby this year."

Opinions -- Take if from one who knows: Gambling problem is real

Michael Franzese, gambling consultant

"You have no idea how easy it is to influence these kids to shave points. I talked to the NBA rookies earlier this season...and it's amazing how many confided to me that they have gambling habits. I'm not going to mention their names, but if I did, you would know them.

"I personally got involved in compromising games with players (while with organized crime), and it all came through their gambling habits.''

Sports Television

Stephen Ste. Marie, senior vice-president of marketing
DIRECTV Inc.

"The expansion (of television sports) is really driven by the fact that the offerings for television are becoming more segmented. The person who is disenfranchised can now watch the team he loves. We are giving the consumer more and more choices as opposed to giving them a single solution to a sports-viewing desire. As you do that you bring in more and more of the fringe audience."

Athlete violence

Richard Lapchick, director
Center for the Study of Sport in Society

"Predominantly white fans read the white-'filtered' media reporting on Mike Tyson complaining about making $65 million one year out of prison for rape, or how the top two NBA centers are going to ask for more than $15 million a year. There probably is a correlation with the white male flirtation with Pat Buchanan and a step away from stereotypes of other groups.

"The implication is that every athlete shares in the traits that were portrayed in the half-hour reports of Michael Irvin or even Christian Peter. Yet it isn't true....

"In 1994, there were 22 athletes and three coaches involved in drug-related offenses. Yet, there were 1.9 million people who used cocaine, 2.1 million who used heroin and 13 million others who used drugs on a monthly basis....

"Athletes have a high visibility and a high profile and they are considerably black. And that leads to some of the misperceptions."