What Tony Bennett’s retiring says about the state of college sports

Tony Bennett, the University of Virginia’s men’s basketball head coach since 2009, suddenly Oct. 18. He led the team to two ACC tournament championships and a national championship in 2019. This shocking announcement was given reasoning when he held a press conference.

“College athletics is not in a healthy spot,” Bennett said. Bennett cited the need for changes in collective bargaining, restrictions on the salary pool that teams spend, transfer regulation, and agents involvement with players.

“I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way,” Bennett said, “That’s who I am.”

Multiple other national championship winning college basketball and football coaches have retired in the past couple years including Jay Wright, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boheim, and Nick Saban. Coincidence? No. College sports are doomed.

The basis of college in this country is education. Without the education there is no fraternity or sorority, no football or basketball team, and no revenue for the hundreds of restaurants and bars that surround the school.

If education fails to come first then the team doesn’t represent its school anymore, but is an independent machine of players trying to make money.

Well, education isn’t remotely considered anymore. It isn’t the players fault. Any person in their right mind would jump at financial opportunity at a different school now that the transfer portal doesn’t require a player to sit a year.

Any player would go to a bigger school in a bigger conference to get their name out there and recognized for financial gain rather than pick a place better academically.

The academic consideration in the state of college sports is nowhere to be found.

“It’s going to be closer to a professional model,” Bennett said. He’s right in every way as the viewership of college sports is so huge that the educational aspect has been negated for financial gain of the NCAA.

Athletes making money isn’t the problem and Bennett echoed the same sentiment. Players should be allowed to make money off their name with the exploitation from the NCAA. However, the restrictions Virginia’s former coach argued for are needed for the betterment of the players. Why?

1.6% of college football players make it to the NFL according to the college advisory committee of the NFL. While no official number is available for the NBA it is probably around the same.

These players are talented and some may have a career in it for some time, but education is needed for a back up. Regardless of whether the player makes it or not, the latest they’ll play is in their late 30s.

The point is, there needs to be a basis for education that gives the player their own independence for a career outside of their sport whenever that ends.

Going from school to school trying to get money for NIL (name, image, and likeness) and traveling around the nation does not set the student up for a successful future. Coaches that used to value this are noticing and they want out.

The NCAA has the responsibility to step in and make regulations which will help the players and coaches while not bringing down the level of talent at all.

If the NCAA only cares about greed and is willing to leave their athletes vulnerable to exploitation and bad decision-making then they don’t deserve the right to reside over these student-athletes.

Brooks Markle is a first-year majoring in communications. To contact him, email bfm5562@psu.edu.