Nigel Hayes and Athlete Activism

Last month, when College Gameday was in Madison, Badgers basketball player Nigel Hayes stood near the set with a sign asking for money since he was a poor student athlete. The point he was trying to make was, the NCAA and UW are rolling in cash because of athletics while those who play the games are left with zero.

Now this past week, Hayes and a group of football players tweeted a message asking the university to answer them about racism on campus and what they were going to do about it. This stems from the Nebraska game Halloween weekend when two fans, one with a Donald Trump mask was pulling around the other in a noose while he wore a Barack Obama mask.

On the first topic, Hayes is fighting a battle the NCAA and UW don't want him to win. I'll argue Hayes and most athletes have it pretty good. Free housing, a financial stipend, free health care, access to world class training and nutrition and won't leave school $160,000 in debt. He's also not the best example of the poor student athlete. He had his opportunities to go play professional basketball, either the NBA or elsewhere but chose not to. Still, he has a valid argument.

What he should be able to do tough, is make money off of being Nigel Hayes, UW basketball player. Endorsements, likeness, etc. that he can sell, he should be able to. That includes signing with an agent. Andy Staples of SI has layed this out multiple times. It alleviates concerns by universities of Title IX implications and would eliminate a lot of the silly oversight by infractions committees.

Would there be overzealous boosters and others at certain universities? Well, yeah. It's still the most sensible plan to pay athletes. Who is selling that 10 jersey? If Hayes wasn't wearing 10, no one is buying a 10 jersey.

As for the second concern rasied by Nigel Hayes, he's right about racism at UW. It's been apparent for years a certain segment of the fanbase appreciates the "cleanliness" of the program. Take a gander at what's said about the type of player at Marquette versus the type of player at UW by the locals. It can be pretty blatant.

A clear example was the whole Diamond Stone saga. Henry Ellenson was as highly recruited as Stone. When Ellenson chose Marquette, nepotism was the excuse. When Stone chosen Maryland, they attacked his grades and smarts. Unfounded cries of low test scores and an inability to be admitted rang out from a segment of the fanbase, including the coaches daughter. When Stone visited as an opposing player, chants of "SAT" rang out. Why didn't Ellenson hear those chants?

I've never been a minority. When they say they get discriminated against as students by fellow students I have to believe them. Whether it's blatant racism or the avoidance of peer group work because of false assumptions, that is an indictment of our culture. I'm not dumb enough to believe this a UW problem alone. There's little doubt this exists across the nation at other institutions of "higher education."

Unfortunately for Hayes and his fellow African-American athletes, the response from the fans and some fellow students will be tepid and dismissed. Worse yet, he'll be told to focus on Final 4's instead of tackling issues he feels need tackling. I've already heard it from people whose opinion I didn't ask for. I hope most alum and fans applaud this young man for taking a stand. I think most will but it'll be the ones that don't that will prove his points.

Nigel Hayes has taken a stance. Let's see how the public handles an African American student athlete having a public opinion. I have a pretty good idea how the Wal-Mart Badgers will respond.