Draymond Green says “entire college system is broken” for collegiate athletes

With the topic of collegiate athletes making money for playing sports in college, whether that be directly paid or making money off their image and likeness, most of us agree that players should be making some sort of compensation for their services to a university.

Former Michigan State Spartan and current Golden State Warrior, Draymond Green, believes so as well, in an interview with ESPN.

Green touched on the fact that he played in the 2009 Final Four in Detroit, less than two hours from his hometown of Saginaw, Michigan, and yet was only allotted three tickets to give away to the dozens of family members that wanted to see Green play in the most important games of his life up to that point.

“My entire family would have missed a huge moment in my life,” Green said. “And why? Because of NCAA rules that suppress all rights for college athletes.”

Green also spoke on Scottie Reynolds, former Villanova Wildcats star, who played in the 2009 Final Four as well. Reynolds went undrafted after being an All-American at Villanova, and did not get compensated for his services to the university.

“Take a guy like Scottie Reynolds at Villanova,” Green said. “He was an All-American, and didn’t get drafted. He should have already been making money in college.”

Green summed it up best with this quote: “They throw around the word ‘student-athlete,’ but it couldn’t be further from the truth,” Green said. “You’re an athlete that happens to be a student. You don’t have time to get a job and provide for yourself, or send money home. This is a $14 billion industry, and the workers aren’t paid.”

He is exactly right. College athletes are not student-athletes, they are athletes who happen to be a student at a university. Even more so for football and basketball players, as those are the dominant money-making sports for each university.

And those athletes simply are not making a profit for the plethora of tickets, shirts, and other merchandise that they sell for the university.

And when it comes time for a big tournament game, they don’t even have enough tickets to give to all family members and friends who wish to attend, and in Green’s case, his family couldn’t afford to purchase them themselves, so former NFL star Lamar Woodley had to step in and purchase tickets for Green’s family.

“They are taking baby steps when the entire system is broken,” Green said.