Samuel Magill: College athletics all about money
The comments by Duke AD Kevin White in the Sept. 7 Barry Jacobs sports column “Duke puts money behind its sports ambitions” were all too true and sobering. He said that the monetizing of college athletics “moves the needle from the educational core value ... closer to the entertainment core value.” I couldn’t agree with him more.
The myth of the “student-athlete” has been diminishing steadily for a number of years. How long before athletes, especially in football and basketball, will no longer be expected to be bona fide students? It appears to me that the horse is already out of the barn.
The steady erosion of the educational dimension of college athletics has been all too evident to most observers, much to our distress. I foresee semi-professional teams representing colleges in the not-too-distant future. If that is true, why should educational institutions not expect athletic programs to be profit-making enterprises for the benefit of the academic program? Let’s call a spade a spade. Let’s get honest about what is happening.
Samuel Magill
Chapel Hill
This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Samuel Magill: College athletics all about money."