NCAA athletes have been inadequately compensated for too long — I don't think that is up for much debate —but I'm not convinced that unionizing is the best response to that problem.
NCAA President Mark Emmert has a point when he says that it will blur the line between college athletics and university employees.
Unionization is a strong message to the NCAA and will unquestionably aid student athletes in many problems, especially getting part of the millions that are brought into the schools.
But I don’t realistically see how it would work if they are both students and employees.
The push toward unionization puts pressure to change the existing model, but I think waiting to see what Emmert and his colleagues could come up with under intense scrutiny might be better than an immediate jump and abandonment of the current model.
Athletes deserve better than what they get, but I’m afraid that the creation of a union, especially in its infant state, could open a whole new can of worms. The last thing we need to do is add more issues to patch up later.
I hope an agreement is made and there’s a bright future for college athletics, but first, we have to make sure this is the best way to tackle the problem before enacting an entirely new model.
Reach the columnist at Nkwit@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @NolanKwit
