Toward a More Critical Understanding of the Experiences of Division I College Athletes

Beyond the scoreboard: Career preparation and transitions of Black college athletes.

“…The evidence is clear: Penn Schoen Berland (2015) found that FBS athletes in the Pac-12 Conference were spending an average of 50 hr per week during the season on sport-related activities, such as practice, strength and conditioning, film study, team meetings, and game competition. Despite the inordinate time demands of sport that push college athletes toward athletics at the expense of their academic goals and obligations, NCAA member institutions tend to place blame on Black athletes themselves (Comeaux, 2015b). Through a CRT lens, compounding this lack of educationally purposeful engagement is the fact that, more than any other group, Black college athletes tend to be the objects of low academic expectations (Gayles et al, 2018).…”

“…They found that, during the 2018–2019 academic year, the average FBS football player had a fair market value of $208,208, while the average basketball player at that level would be worth $370,085. Indeed, the racialized bodies of Black college athletes, to a significant degree, are viewed as commodities that align with material structures of profitability for NCAA schools and disproportionately White stakeholders in the affairs of athletics (Comeaux, 2019). This capitalist underpinning of college athletics positions Black athletic bodies as exploitable and undervalued laborers (Comeaux, 2018; Hawkins, 2010).…”

“…Policymakers and college and university leaders are searching for supporting evidence to better understand the career preparation and transitions of Black college athletes. Amid ongoing litigation and pressures from internal and external athletic stakeholders about athletes' rights and well-being, perhaps there is no better time to provide related evidence (Comeaux, 2019).…”

Looking Beyond the Toxic Triangle: Connecting Sexual Abuse to Failed Governance

“…Critical scholars have documented the fundamentally racist, exclusionary structure of the NCAA-from disproportionate participation and inequitable academic experiences (Comeaux, 2019;Harper et al, 2013;Jayakumar & Comeaux, 2016), to unequal access and exploitation inherent in the amateur system (Donner, 2005;Gayles et al, 2018;Hextrum, 2020;Sack & Staurowsky, 1998), to the reinforcement and production of racist ideologies (Gayles et al, 2018;Haslerig et al, 2020;Hawkins, 2013;Hextrum, 2019). These dynamics are also reflected in who holds powerful leadership positions within the NCAA.…”