NCAA leader says he supports players’ rights to express demands for compensation

A senior NCAA executive responded to athletes’ renewed demands for compensation Thursday by saying he supports and encourages their right to free speech within the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament’s rules.

NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt told members of the media during a morning virtual briefing that he’s unaware of any efforts to disrupt the tournament after several participating athletes posted calls for compensatory reform to social media the previous day. Those messages featuring the hashtag #NotNCAAProperty are only the latest development in the ongoing effort by college athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses—a matter that is now scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court.

“I personally respect the student-athletes in this tournament for using the opportunity and platform they have earned through their outstanding success on the court in the classroom to be here and the peaceful and non-disruptive use of their voice to advocate for change that they’re passionate about,” Gavitt said.

Geo Baker, a guard for Rutgers, posted messages to Twitter both the day before and the day of the tournament’s first games on Thursday.

“If you don’t agree with that statement, then you are saying that you believe that I, a human being, should be owned by something else,” Baker posted Thursday morning.

With that message, he echoed demands made by the National College Players Association:

– NCAA rules to allow for athletes to retain representation and pay for the use of their name, image and likeness by July 1;
– A meeting with NCAA President Mark Emmert;
– Meetings with state and federal lawmakers to pass laws to give athletes physical, academic and financial protections;
– The U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of the plaintiffs in Alston v. NCAA, and to not give the NCAA any power to deny players equal freedoms.

The NCAA was previously slated to vote on the matter in January, but the Justice Department intervened and warned of a potential violation of antitrust laws.

There is the chance that the movement will make an appearance during the tournament’s games, in the form of #NotNCAAProperty headbands or other modified apparel. Gavitt said the NCAA has rules regarding uniforms, and anything outside of those rules that might be judged as potential misconduct will be reviewed by a committee.

Even if committee does determine there was some sort of misconduct, Gavitt said it wouldn’t likely disrupt the games.

“Most all of that would be dealt with after the tournament,” Gavitt said. “Normally, any kind of misconduct is adjudicated after the tournament rather than during it, unless it’s an egregious issue around good sportsmanship or any kind of issue like that.”

Gavitt said neither the committee or staff are interested in blunting anything that appropriately uses independent student athletes’ voices.

As of Thursday, all 68 participating teams have arrived in Indiana to play the tournament’s 67 games over the next 19 days. The tournament’s first game starts at 5:10 p.m. Thursday and pits Texas Southern University against Mount St. Mary’s University at IU Bloomington’s Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

The NCAA and its physicians have administered more than 9,100 COVID-19 tests to those within the tournament’s controlled bubble to identify eight positive cases.

Gavitt said, under the determination of the NCAA’s medical advisory committee and the Marion County Public Department of Health, any individual who tests positive has the choice to stay isolated in their hotel room or return to their home or campus.

Should an individual who chooses to stay see their team advance in the tournament beyond the 10 days of required isolation, that athlete will be evaluated by the team’s physician for competitive readiness and cardiac issues before they can return to play.

“That’s going to be determined by their health professionals, not the tournament,” Gavitt said.