HBCUs, small colleges again ignored by NCAA

It was only three years ago that the NCAA was appealing to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch attempt to keep from having to pay college athletes, especially football and basketball players, an annual cash supplement on top of their scholarships. The amount they didn’t want to pay was $5,980. Today that figure is laughable, especially in light of a new agreement that was reached this week which finally acknowledges that bigtime college sports isn’t remotely about amateurism, not that it ever was anyway. The NCAA and the Power 5 conferences voted this week on a 10-year deal that will reportedly funnel to college athletes more than $15 billion dollars over its duration.& This move is to settle three antitrust cases (House, Hubbard and Carter). It approves terms that feature nearly $2.8 billion in back damages; a future athlete revenue-sharing model that will cost major conferences a cumulative $1 billion-plus annually; and other potential changes to the association’s governance, enforcement and scholarship structure. “This would be the biggest change in the history of college sports. Period,” Gabe Feldman, a sports law professor at Tulane and leading voice in NCAA litigation matters, told Yahoo sports. “There have been significant changes and...