the BigAmateurism monologues

On August 3rd, 2021, the outside law firm—Kaplan, Heckler, and Fink—hired by the NCAA in March to conduct an external review of gender-based discrepancies between the Division I women’s and men’s basketball tournaments issued its first report. While Kaplan identified troubling inequities, most of its recommendations are warmed over from prior, failed reform efforts. Importantly, these recommendations leave to the NCAA the discretion of whether to adopt them. In short, Kaplan’s work presumes and preserves the essential dysfunction in college sports: NCAA regulatory authority. This episode begins an analysis of the report, including its scope and purpose. The NCAA’s dishonest virtue-signaling on gender equity as a primary institutional value provides valuable and timely insight into its disingenuous campaign for name, image, and likeness “compensation” during the perfect storm of 2019 – present. Is it time for the NCAA Board of Governors to cut its losses and fire Mark Emmert?