Shabazz gets it done... NCAA approves unlimited meals and snacks

[pap49cba]

LINK

 

[msf22b]

Yeah!

 

[CL82]

Did I read that correctly - do walk ons get free meals? Does that mean that you can opt out of the meal plan and still get 'unlimited meals and snacks'?

 

[alexrgct]

That'll feed the Hungry Huskies!

 

[intlzncster]

All it takes is for someone to speak up. So many people hemmed and hawed about Shabazz's speech. Fools.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

I still do not understand this. When I was in school the athletes had the meal plan included. We spent many a meals in South. Was there something about not being able to eat after a game? I just do not see how this was an issue....

 

[j66kicker]

Talk radio has been having a ball with this all afternoon - busting on all those poor elite college athletes who go to bed starving, noticing that this or that elite football or basketball player looks undernourished, etc. One story from a student athlete who said he called his coach late at night and asked for help getting food, said he and his athlete roommate had no money and were so hungry he was afraid the might do something crazy. Coach brought them over 50 tacos, and the kid was pissed because the coach was driving a Lexus. Athletes getting no sympathy (or credibility) on this one.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

In spite of the fun poking, actually it probably is an actual issue, perhaps less dramatic than kicker's story. Some college athletes do come from disadvantaged homes and are not getting much pocket money from parents. They can't get a job to earn the money, they can't accept the food as a gift . . .

And one can argue they don't need snacks, but that is kind of petty and nasty.

OTH, the article also indicated a decrease in penalties for street drugs in championships. Huh?

 

[Gurleyman]

I still do not understand this. When I was in school the athletes had the meal plan included. We spent many a meals in South. Was there something about not being able to eat after a game? I just do not see how this was an issue....

The issue is you burn a lot of calories playing sports at a high level, and that 7 pm dinner often allows you to merely replenish what you've burned off at practice. That may not still be holding you over after midnight, when a little pocket money comes in handy. It wasn't that you don't have access to food at all - it's just that often you need to forage for yourself at odd times, and the coaches weren't allowed to assist (with even something like bagels and cream cheese), even though it would be in their best interests to make sure their players are fed well enough to perform their best.

There have been DI athletes all over Twitter today thanking Shabazz (even though this proposal was in the works for a while and it's debatable if Shabazz really influenced the decision with his comments). That shows that this has been a legitimate problem.

 

[j66kicker]

In spite of the fun poking, actually it probably is an actual issue, perhaps less dramatic than kicker's story. Some college athletes do come from disadvantaged homes and are not getting much pocket money from parents. They can't get a job to earn the money, they can't accept the food as a gift . . .

And one can argue they don't need snacks, but that is kind of petty and nasty.

OTH, the article also indicated a decrease in penalties for street drugs in championships. Huh?

Negotiating chit?? ("OK let's let them have unlimited food and loosen up on the street drugs, and maybe this unionization nonsense will go away."). #%?$&@##??!?

 

[Striper69]

In spite of the fun poking, actually it probably is an actual issue, perhaps less dramatic than kicker's story. Some college athletes do come from disadvantaged homes and are not getting much pocket money from parents. They can't get a job to earn the money, they can't accept the food as a gift . . .

And one can argue they don't need snacks, but that is kind of petty and nasty.

OTH, the article also indicated a decrease in penalties for street drugs in championships. Huh?

I've been curious about that. They can't get part-time jobs to earn spending money if they play basketball etc? If they don't have affluent parents then they're SOL.
As much as the NCAA makes off them they couldn't give them extra consideration for meals?

Glad the kid spoke up.

 

[ChicagoGG]

The way I read it was that walk-ons had to buy their own food. Did that include pre and post game meals? That would make it very expensive for, say, T and Polly, particularly on the road. Glad it is changing!

 

[hussybulldog]

Looks like these athletes need more than three meals a day with the practices and high metabolism.
Had they only needed three meals, everything would have been fine cause as far as I know, the meal plans are all you can eat at UConn which covers three meals.

 

[intlzncster]

I've been curious about that. They can't get part-time jobs to earn spending money if they play basketball etc? If they don't have affluent parents then they're SOL.
As much as the NCAA makes off them they couldn't give them extra consideration for meals?

Nope. The D1 bball/football kids are banned from getting jobs in the summer because it's to open to violations and under the table stuff. If a kid from a disadvantaged background has no money, then he's got to go to school with no money. This is the crux of the problem.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Couldn't a disadvantaged kid play basketball without a scholarship to avoid a lot of the NCAA insanity? If a kid is really good, take out loans with the hope that your future earnings will easily pay off the loans.

 

[UConn990411]

Couldn't a disadvantaged kid play basketball without a scholarship to avoid a lot of the NCAA insanity? If a kid is really good, take out loans with the hope that your future earnings will easily pay off the loans.

Is this a serious suggestion?

 

[Icebear]

Couldn't a disadvantaged kid play basketball without a scholarship to avoid a lot of the NCAA insanity? If a kid is really good, take out loans with the hope that your future earnings will easily pay off the loans.

No, because it would affect his or her eligibility to play for the team. Team rules of eligibility are under the oversight of the NCAA.

 

[HoopsFan21]

No, because it would affect his or her eligibility to play for the team. Team rules of eligibility are under the oversight of the NCAA.

Couldn't they just be a walk on? Albeit a really good one. Tierney Lawlor does it, so why couldn't Shabazz Napier? Pretty much anyone can get student loans these days, so yes it is a serious suggestion.. If you're destined for the NBA the student loans would be repaid in no time with very little interest.

 

[Icebear]

Couldn't they just be a walk on? Albeit a really good one. Tierney Lawlor does it, so why couldn't Shabazz Napier? Pretty much anyone can get student loans these days, so yes it is a serious suggestion.. If you're destined for the NBA the student loans would be repaid in no time with very little interest.

Walk ons are still overseen by the competitive rules of the NCAA.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Couldn't they just be a walk on? Albeit a really good one. Tierney Lawlor does it, so why couldn't Shabazz Napier? Pretty much anyone can get student loans these days, so yes it is a serious suggestion.. If you're destined for the NBA the student loans would be repaid in no time with very little interest.

In Mens and women's basketball, it counts as a "scholarship" to the head count regardless, and indeed falls under NCAA scrutiny. A lot of these athletes may not qualify for other schollies or loan, and the NCAA has serious issues about loans granted for athletes. And the schollies may not pay living expenses as well.

If the system could be gamed (and obviously, in many ways it is) it would be. This is not one of those areas.

 

[blackbird]

I still do not understand this. When I was in school the athletes had the meal plan included. We spent many a meals in South. Was there something about not being able to eat after a game? I just do not see how this was an issue....

The Dining Halls close down pretty early.

Also, apparently in some schools the dining halls are closed on the weekends.