NCAA finally heard the pleas echoing across college basketball. At least, regarding its transfer portal. The portal will now start after the National Championship Game and will last only 15 days instead of 30, with an exception to a coaching transition. While that is a welcome change, Arkansas coach John Calipari still has major concerns regarding college basketball’s future.

“There is no sustainable path in college athletics that doesn’t address these three things: First, student-athletes should have their opportunities for scholarships protected and get to compete against players who are their age,” Calipari wrote in his Opinion piece with the Washington Post. The average age in college basketball has increased over the past few years, largely because of the NIL boom. 

There are 8 teams in the country this season with an average age above 23, and that number will only increase without additional restraint. Many players now view the NCAA as a more lucrative option than European leagues because of NIL and are finding legal ways to enter the system. For example, the court has given former Penn State star Puff Johnson a temporary restraining order after he had his eligibility injunction motion denied in November. The 25-year-old will suit up for Ohio State. To Calipari and plenty of coaches, nothing stalls an 18-year-old’s rise like being wedged into a lineup full of older guys.

“Second, transfer rules, which now allow players to leave one school for another as often as they’d like, need stability. This will help education remain the heart of colleges and universities,” He wrote. Calipari has been pretty vocal regarding the academic needs of college basketball players being ignored. “Mercenaries,” he called them, transferring 4, even 5 times in their careers to play for whoever pays them the most. 

Lost credits, lost connections, and other impediments eventually lead to no degree. For Calipari, they can transfer 1 time and not any more than that. It will help them in their career beyond college basketball, as very few players actually go pro. Considering their long term future is important for Calipari. If this trend continues, the NCAA will be in a dangerous place down the line, according to Calipari. However, it’s not like the NCAA wants to continue functioning with ‘no rules’, the legal requirements are forcing them to. To that, Calipari has a very simple answer: a collective bargaining agreement. 

John Calipari Proposes A Collective Bargaining Agreement for the NCAA

To put it simply, a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a legally binding contract negotiated between an employer and a union that represents the employees. It is very common in professional leagues like the NBA and the NHL. The WNBA CBA and its negotiation are a talking point nowadays. However, isn’t the NCAA an amateur league? To maintain that John Calipari first proposed a legislative solution.

“Can the NCAA implement a model that accomplishes this? If it can lobby Congress to provide antitrust protection and give it the ability to create effective rules, then probably yes,” Calipari wrote. “But is that a reasonable expectation? No.”

Granting a broad antitrust exemption is politically and legally controversial because it can also legalize collusion that suppresses athlete compensation and bargaining power. It is a far-fetched idea that the NCAA can get an exemption on one of the most fundamental laws in the country. 

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“If a legislative solution isn’t possible, the athletic conferences should take the lead by forming an alliance. This could require collective bargaining with athletes as a special class of nonemployees,” Calipari further wrote. “They should be provided concessions as part of this negotiation: health care, retirement accounts, and scholarships for up to four years after their athletic eligibility ends.”

Calipari is proposing a middle ground to maintain amateurism while curbing the system with some rules. A CBA is between an employee and an employer, taking the league into the professional territory, which requires a special non-employee tag. According to The Athletic, Calipari consulted with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, and former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, along with other high-profile coaches. 

So, many believe this solution is viable for the NCAA to move forward. However, a CBA has multiple hurdles, such as the structural complexity for universities to unite and the public-private nature. The National Labor Relations Act covers only private employers, and some states have prohibited public employees from collective bargaining; in others, the statutes are silent on whether athletes could be deemed employees. It’s another web of legal mess, but one thing is true: the stakeholders need a viable solution, fast.