UM's Isaiah Livers among players to meet with NCAA president over NIL rights

Michigan’s Isaiah Livers was among a trio of college basketball players who met with NCAA president Mark Emmert on Thursday to discuss their #NotNCAAProperty movement that demanded changes to how college athletes can be compensated.

Alongside Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon and Rutgers’ Geo Baker, the three requested that the NCAA make a temporary rule change allowing athletes to make money from use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) during the 2021-22 school year.

According to Baker, Emmert told them he would “get back to us” on their request for a blanket waiver for NIL deals and repeatedly referred to waiting for Congress to intervene.

None of the players were optimistic Emmert would take any swift action.

“We brought up a lot of our points, and it’s kind of like he would say the same thing and kind of agree with us. But that really wasn’t going anywhere,” said Livers, who wore a #NotNCAAProperty shirt during the NCAA Tournament while sidelined with a foot injury. “And obviously, from what I hear, he likes to kind of talk about points instead of make action.”

Added Bohannon: "Our meeting was the same thing he's doing in the public. A lot of talk and he's waiting on Congress to decide on legislation."

The three players expressed frustration and disappointment in the governing body's approach to NIL, as well as with a miscommunication that led to no female athletes being included on the call with Emmert.

Women's basketball players, including Michigan's Naz Hillmon and Akienreh Johnson, were on a media call with Livers, Bohannon and Baker on Thursday. They also want to make their case for NIL rights.

"The best opportunity (for women) sometimes is in college," Hillmon said. "I feel like the NCAA sometimes gives itself a pat on the back for giving student-athletes a head start. Well, on the women's side, you get your name out there, but in terms of endorsements and making connections that would lead to more endorsements once you get out of college, we're kind of at a standstill." 

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In coordination with the National College Players Association, the athletes began a social media campaign — with the hashtag #NotNCAAProperty — on the eve of the NCAA Tournament to protest against "unjust NCAA rules that deny college athletes equal freedoms and basic protections."

The NCAA was scheduled to vote on NIL legislation in January before delaying the move, in part because of antitrust concerns raised by the Justice Department and the ongoing legal battle over athlete compensation that was heard by the Supreme Court this week.

Emmert and the NCAA have asked federal lawmakers to create a national rule that would open opportunities for college athletes to make money with some restrictions on the types of deals they could sign. Several states have passed legislation that would make the NCAA’s current rules illegal, including Michigan, with some of them scheduled to go into effect as early as July.

Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who co-authored a bill last year that would bring sweeping reform to college sports and push the NCAA to go beyond NIL rights, met with the players following their meeting with Emmert. They both disagreed with the idea that the NCAA needed to wait on Congress before creating its own rule changes.

“It’s a clear sign of lack of leadership,” Blumenthal said. “He wants Congress to help him. Well, we’re going to help him. But the help we're going to give him is not help to the NCAA. It's help to the athlete, because his lack of leadership and, frankly, the NCAA lack of leadership and the colleges' lack of leadership has brought us to this point."

In addition to the blanket waiver, the players requested two more things from Emmert. They want the NCAA to abide by Title IX gender equity rules and they want to have more of a voice in the process, like being included at Division I Council and Board of Governors meetings.

The plan is to meet with Emmert again in the future, according to the players, though nothing is scheduled.

“They represented, I think, the views of many athletes very, very well. I want to personally continue that conversation with them,” Emmert said. "I look forward to continuing to work with them and others to make sure we can get done what needs to get done to have NIL opportunities for our students. I’m really confident we’re going to get there and hopefully get there soon.”

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @jamesbhawkins