Playing for the University of Toledo from Napoleon, current UT Director of Basketball Operations Jordan Lauf imagines there would have been some opportunities for him to benefit from his name, image, and likeness when he was in college.
“Being somewhat local and being part of the university and the basketball team, it would have been somewhat beneficial having the ties to the area and being able to benefit from that,” Lauf said. “But who knows really looking back on it. If the opportunity was there, I for sure would have tried to take advantage of it. ... It definitely would have been something I looked into pretty seriously.”
Ex-players like Lauf are left to wonder how they would have been affected, while the name, image, and likeness rule appears to be on its way to the NCAA.
Earlier this week, the NCAA Board of Governors decided to move forward with a proposed rule change that would allow players to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness.
The Board of Governors recommended a plan be put in place by January and for the new rule to be enforced at the Division I, II, and III level for the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.
“I think it's going to take some time to get used to,” Lauf said. “If the kids can benefit and make some type of extra income and money from it, I guess I don't see anything that should prevent them from doing so.”
Toledo assistant coach and former Rockets player Justin Ingram said this rule could help student-athletes who don't have much disposable income despite being on scholarship.
Ingram said that wasn't too much of a problem for him, but he saw teammates from different backgrounds that did struggle at times. Like other college students, though, Ingram learned how to make the money he did have go a long way.
“I was a typical college student and I didn't have a bunch of money,” Ingram said. “After a game or practice, if my dad was there, he would give me a $20 hand-shake. I actually thought that being in college and not having a lot of money, it helped me learn how to stretch a dollar. I could make $20 go a week or two weeks. Would it have been nice to have some extra money in college? Of course it would have. But for me it wasn't a huge deal. For some of my teammates and friends it was, because they weren't from the same background as I was.”
Ingram said when he played, name, image, and likeness issues were not really on the minds of the student-athletes. So he wasn't really sure looking back if he could have had commercial or sponsorship opportunities at Toledo like maybe an Ohio State or Duke student-athlete.
“As an 18-22 year old, you are not really looking for those opportunities, at least in that day and age when I played,” Ingram said. “I'm honestly not sure. I'm not sure that in the Toledo market — as good of a player as I thought I was — I'm not sure I was that type of caliber where someone would actually want to put me in a commercial and pay me some money. If this was Columbus and it was Ohio State or if you were in Durham and it was Duke, then you might have more high profile players where it's possible. For me, I'm not sure someone would have taken that risk on me, but who knows what would have happened.”
Back in October, Toledo point guard Marreon Jackson echoed Ingram's sentiment that student-athletes at big-name schools would likely profit the most from this, but Jackson thought there could be ways to take make money at the smaller schools like Toledo, as well.
“I definitely think that it favors the big schools and the players that are one-and-done, but for small schools there are always going to be those guys that the whole city loves as a basketball player, and I’m pretty sure that this will benefit them in some kind of way,” Jackson said.
Ingram said there are drawbacks to the decision as it places a larger burden on the backs of the student-athletes while they are still at a young age.
“I'm back and forth with the decision,” Ingram said. “It's great that these players are able to do this and make some money off of their name. When I was in college, I was all for players being able to make some money off of themselves, but that's at 18, 19, 20 years old. Now that I'm a little older as a coach and I know a little bit more about the behind the scenes, I just think it's a bigger hurdle than people think.
“It's not like your coach can go and find these opportunities for you. So now being a student and being an athlete, you have all the stress to do the things you do on the court and in the classroom and then on top of that, now you are going to be looking for the opportunities to make money. I think you are adding a little bit of an extra burden on yourself at an earlier age than what it should be. I think it's still a great opportunity, though, and hopefully we find a way to do it right.”
First Published May 3, 2020, 11:30 p.m.
