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Monday, May 21
Updated: May 22, 10:09 AM ET
Stanford hoops players join coalition
By Tom Farrey
ESPN.com
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Prompted by All-America guard Casey Jacobsen, the Stanford men's basketball players have signed a petition expressing their intent to join a nascent group of college athletes seeking greater benefits for players in the revenue-producing sports of football and men's basketball.
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When I step on the court, I feel I have total control of my destiny. But off the court, it's like we have no control over how we're treated. That's why I got involved. ” |
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— Casey Jacobsen, Stanford's All-American guard |
The Collegiate Athletes Coalition, which set up its first student chapter at UCLA in January, announced the addition of Stanford today after its leaders met Friday with 10 members of the basketball team and about 20 players on the football team.
"I want to make it clear that we believe we're treated well by Stanford," Jacobsen said. "We just feel that because of the success of our sport and all the money that's being generated (at NCAA schools), we want to see more of it coming back to us."
The CAC is backed by the 700,000-member United Steelworkers of America, whose leaders have helped organize such campus groups as Students Against Sweatshops, known for its protest of the labor practices in the Asian factories used by Nike.
"This should show the NCAA that it's time to make the changes we've been talking about," said Tim Waters, a national Steelworkers organizer who met on campus with the Stanford athletes.
The CAC wants year-round medical coverage for athletes; an insurance increase above the current $10,000 maximum death benefit; and scholarships that cover the full cost of attendance -- not just tuition and fees, books, room and board. The NCAA currently does not allows schools to pay for transportation or other related costs of attending a college, an amount that comes to about $2,000 on average per year.
"It would be hard for Stanford to oppose any of those issues," Stanford athletic director Ted Leland said.
The original goal of the CAC was to organize football teams around the country. Ramogi Huma, CAC chairman and a former UCLA football player, said he is continuing discussions with football players around the country and hopes to add more football teams to the coalition by the start of next season.
But the CAC opened itself up to basketball programs as well after Stanford -- the No. 1-ranked team in the nation much of last season -- expressed an interest in hearing from Huma and the Steelworkers.
"Both football and basketball realize they have similar issues with the NCAA," Huma said. "We're willing to work together to make changes."
With their media contracts and widespread public interest, football and men's basketball are often the only teams on many campuses that turn a profit. At prominent schools, those profits can be more than tidy.
At Stanford, men's basketball had revenues of $4.6 million and expenses of $2.2 million in the 1999-2000 season, according to the most recent data provided by the school to the U.S. Department of Education. Cardinal football generated $21.9 million in revenues and $14.9 million in expenses.
The money flowing into college sports is expected to grow in the coming years. In 2003, the NCAA begins an 11-year, $6 billion contract with CBS to televise the men's NCAA Tournament. The contract will replace the current $1.725 billion, 8-year deal.
Leland said he has some concern about the involvement of the Steelworkers because "unions traditionally seek fair market value." Colleges, he said, cannot afford to compensate revenue-producing athletes based on the financial value they bring to schools. Still, Stanford coaches will not threaten or penalize players who participate in the CAC, he said.
"We would hope all student-athletes would be active," Leland said. "We won't allow any retaliation against them."
Before last season, another group designed to register the concerns of Division I players, the Student Basketball Council, was formed under the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Jacobsen said he is willing to support that group if asked, but that Stanford players liked the more independent voice afforded by the CAC.
"The CAC is our thing," said Jacobsen, a sophomore last season who has opted not to enter the NBA draft. "When I step on the court, I feel I have total control of my destiny. But off the court, it's like we have no control over how we're treated. That's why I got involved."
Tom Farrey is a senior writer with ESPN.com. He can be reached at tom.farrey@espn.com.
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