Teams have arrived in Indianapolis and things are already brewing in the NCAA bubble. The conversation over athlete compensation comes up, again and again, each year. Now, as the NCAA Tournament is about to start, players have started a small social media movement with the hashtag NotNCAAProperty. Rutgers guard Geo Baker shared his tweet, which seemingly caused others to share the hashtag as well.
The NCAA OWNS my name image and likeness. Someone on music scholarship can profit from an album. Someone on academic scholarship can have a tutor service. For ppl who say “an athletic scholarship is enough.” Anything less than equal rights is never enough. I am #NotNCAAProperty
— Geo Baker (@Geo_Baker_1) March 17, 2021
Fellow Rutgers teammate Ron Harper Jr., also sent a Tweet reading, “HEAR US!! We deserve the rights to OUR names. #NotNCAAProperty.” Since arriving in the NCAA bubble there have already been complaints around conditions for the players. Baker had sent a Tweet out in response to Jon Rothstein just the day before.
Think you can definitely be grateful to play this game while also understanding there’s more that should be on the table. Players ISOLATED entire year to help make this tournament happen. NCAA: rewarded w/ $900 million. Players: rewarded w/ free deodorant and small boxed meals. https://t.co/vb9BPGeBkH
— Geo Baker (@Geo_Baker_1) March 16, 2021
Players both former and current from Rutgers, Iowa, Wichita State, and Virginia Tech shared messages under the hashtag. Jordan Bohannon of the Iowa Hawkeyes sent out his own NotNCAAProperty message. He will be featured mightily during the tournament with a 2-seed in the big dance. The Hawkeyes are seen as a team that could win it all this season.
Injured Michigan Wolverine, Isaiah Livers, spent his morning sharing messages under the hashtag as well as putting out his own message.
I am #NotNCAAProperty
— Isaiah (@isaiah__02) March 17, 2021
As players arrived in Indy, they were greeted with a swag bag of sorts. A decorative shoebox filled with March Madness memorabilia. From a picture shared by Bohannon of Iowa, there appeared to be a ball cap, bumper sticker, as well as what appears to be t-shirts and other small bits of merch. The Iowa team jokingly held a March Madness locker room rug hostage in exchange for their likeness rights.
Give us the ability to make money off our own name and we’ll give you your rug back. You have 24 hours, @NCAA. @Nicholas_Baer pic.twitter.com/Sca4cTs8kq
— Jordan Bohannon (@JordanBo_3) March 31, 2019
Why do I have a feeling the @ncaa giving college athletes this box for the first time this year has something to do with the rug incident from two years ago? @Nicholas_Baer pic.twitter.com/v69mQx4rZd
— Jordan Bohannon (@JordanBo_3) March 15, 2021
What is interesting here is how quickly these players seem to have organized. What seems to be happening from an outside perspective is this. All of these players have isolated for almost an entire year in an effort to keep the NCAA season going and to play the NCAA tournament. Now, when they arrive, knowing they are the key to having the season, they felt disrespected. By the merch, the food, the attitude of people like Rothstein or Dan Dakich, or for a multitude of reasons…they feel how they feel.
With the players being centered into one location for this tournament it has given an opportunity for hundreds of athletes with shared experiences to talk. That’s what any organizing comes down to. The NBA Bubble boycott was made possible by the proximity of all the teams in Orlando.
Is there more to this? Only the players have the answer to that. However, the history of athletic organizing is rich and always being written. Whether the next chapter comes in Indy remains to be seen.
