NCAA Basketball: Teams have discussed boycotting the Final Four in the past

NCAA basketball teams have discussed boycotting the Final Four in the past.

Here we go again.

The everlasting debate of college athletes who want to be paid for playing is back. It is rumored that some NCAA athletes were even considering boycotting the Final Four over a lack of pay.

According to ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, he claims to have heard that some college teams have discussed the possibility of protesting the Final Four. Here is a quote from a recent article written by Business Insider.

"“I think it’s almost offensive for those that are paid and making millions to tell those that are unpaid and the engine generating millions that they are blessed is equally laughable and kinda sad….Because [a boycott of the Final Four] has been discussed among players. And that is not some crazy notion. That’s a fact. It’s a fact that’s been confirmed by multiple people. It’s a possibility,” Bilas said."

On the other hand, college-basketball analyst Seth Davis published an article arguing that players would not boycott the NCAA’s biggest event over simply a lack of pay. Davis argued that the Final Four is simply too exciting and that these athletes wouldn’t boycott something that they have worked their whole lives for.

Take this with a grain of salt if you wish, but this is a serious possibility. Just imagine a player like Buddy Hield boycotting the game this weekend because he isn’t getting paid. Hield, one of the top players in all of the NCAA, would send a huge statement if he were to do this. But the question would then remain, would that change anything?

It would have to be more than one player, of course. It would need to be a whole team, even multiple teams, in order for the NCAA to really consider paying the players.

As it is, the players receive scholarships, free meal passes, free tutoring, and in most cases even free housing. That in itself is payment enough. For a player like Hield, who came from a very low economic background, being paid for pay would be the icing on the cake. However, most players know that if they play well enough in the college ranks, they will make millions and millions of dollars in the NBA and that is something Hield is set out to do.

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With the one-and-done rule, we have seen an enormous number of freshman come and go after just a year of college. They get drafted, make millions, and some even stick around the NBA for years on end.

Carmelo Anthony is a perfect example. He played one year at Syracuse, won a National Championship, and ever since has been a top-15 player in the NBA. Did Carmelo ever complain about not being paid? Probably not.

The point here is this: go to college, play at least a year, and if you perform well enough you will be a multi-millionaire playing for an NBA team.

However, the issue of boycotting isn’t just occurring in college hoops. Just prior to this past season’s College Football Playoff Championship, Tom Brady’s agent Don Yee, was insistent that Clemson and Alabama players should protest the game. Yee said that not paying athletes is a “financial injustice”, especially since others profit from the game, according to Business Insider.

The issue, perhaps, has become more prominent recently because of the expansion of the market and the overflow of money coming from these games. Not to mention the coaches, like Nick Saban and Coach K for example, getting paid over five million a year to coach college sports. If Alabama and Duke can afford to pay Saban and Coach K that much per year, you can only imagine how much profit they are making off of a college team with a roster full of unpaid players.

The Final Four is the biggest stage in all of basketball arguably. A player that boycotts a game would be giving up a whole lot. For example, it wouldn’t be so bad for Hield, because he is a sure-fire top 10 pick regardless. But for a player who isn’t necessarily headed for the pros, sitting out the biggest game of their career, especially for a graduating senior, is something you would have to live with your whole life.

“There’s no argument that this is a multibillion-dollar business that is professional in every way except how the athletes are treated,” Bilas said. “The only student in college that is subject to a wage restriction is an athlete. That’s one thing that should be remedied immediately.”

For the players who have come from difficult financial situations, it is certainly an incentive to boycott if they believe it won’t hurt their draft stock. We haven’t seen it yet, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

Bilas and Davis might see differently, but both of them bring up excellent reasons as to why and why not the boycott will or will not happen.

Until somebody takes the stand and boycott’s the game, or multiple games, we won’t know what will happen. With coaches making absurd amounts of money, and with teams bringing in absurd amounts of money, it is definitely a realistic possibility to pay the athletes.

What do you think? Is boycotting worth the risk?

Should college athletes receive paychecks?

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Let us know what you think in the comments!

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